My New Boss
by Jung-Hee
Summary: Sakura has finally returned to Konoha after 10 years of practically living a life of solitude. Now, as a well seasoned surgeon, she's taking on the position of being an assistant to none other than Uchiha Sasuke. Her ex-boyfriend. There's just one minor detail; he has no idea who she is or that they ever even dated in the first place.
1. Prologue

**My New Boss**

 **Prologue**

* * *

"Dr. Uchiha, there's a young woman here saying she has an appointment? Apparently it's another applicant for the surgeon position." She tried her best not to appear to unprofessional as she unabashedly checked out her boss.

Sasuke didn't even bother to acknowledge the woman's flirtatious glances, as he blew her off with a wave of his hand. "Send her in." Was all he said as he continued to trifle through his paperwork.

The nurse nodded and walked away after closing the door. She rolled her eyes when she walked back over to the applicant. She was a rather dull looking girl, with abnormally pink hair that looked like it hadn't had a decent pair of scissors taken to her head in a while. Her blouse and khakis were mediocre at best. To say the least, she looked rather drab. Obviously this woman had no fashion sense whatsoever. "Haruno Sakura," She said bluntly, eyeing the girl up and down in obvious distaste. "Sasuke-san would like to see you now.

Sakura looked up at the call of her name. She also noticed the dirty look she was getting. However, she didn't bother to grace the girl with anything but a kind smile. She didn't care for the nurse at all. She wasn't there for her, obviously.

The girl walked ahead, her heels clicking behind her with a repetitive _tap, tap, tap_. Sakura didn't hesitate to follow as the girl led her through the hall and up to the elevator to the sixth floor where the trauma cases and urgent care patients lied. They continued walking down a few more halls ( _left, right another left, through giant double doors and another right),_ until they reached a plain door with the name plate of `Dr. Uchiha Sasuke' glued to the middle.

Sakura's eyes furrowed determinedly. She mentally gave herself a pep talk before the young nurse rapped against the large mahogany door and then turned to scowl at Sakura.

"Uchiha-san is in there." And with that she walked off, the annoying click of her heels following behind her as she drifted away.

Sakura refrained from rolling her eyes and instead focused her attention on the door. Her stomach fluttered uneasily. She wasn't nervous about the fact she was interviewing for another apprenticeship. This interview was nothing compared to all the grueling hours she had to work under Tsunade. No, it was who the person who was interviewing her that was the problem. She gripped the knob with shaking hands and opened it slowly.

"Hurry up and take a seat!" The voice barked on the other side, not even sparing her a glance.

Sakura flinched, shutting the door behind her. She quickly sat herself in the seat across from a big desk and tried her best not to stare to obvious at the man sitting before her. She hadn't yet got a good look at his face. He didn't lift his gaze from all the medical reports he had strewn around him. She fiddled nervously with the end of her skirt and then pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear before she got up the courage to clear her throat.

She about lost all sense of herself when he finally looked her in the eye. Uchiha Sasuke would probably forever still be beautiful, no matter how old he was. Even after all these years he still looked the same as he had back in their high school days. His hair was as dark as night and his bangs framed his face nicely. His eyes were such a rich ebony. Thin, dainty glasses were perched proudly on his nose. His jaw line was well-defined, and the rest of his body looked well built.

"So, Tsunade-sama sent over your transcripts the other day. They look pretty decent. She is a well-respected person and isn't known for taking on students. You must have really impressed her." He sounded impressed, but he didn't let it show through his expression. However, Sasuke never really had to say or do much for Sakura to be able to tell what he was thinking.

She blushed either way, his gaze was as intense as ever. It felt as if he was looking right through her very being, seeing directly into her soul. That, of course, wasn't the first time he's ever looked at her like that. She heard a cough and blushed as she noticed she had spaced out for lord knows how long.

He raised an eyebrow and shook his head as he looked through her file some more.

She berated herself when she squeaked out a pathetic 'huh?' and then fought down the potential blush when he looked her over. He did not look impressed by her attitude at all. The last thing she wanted him to think was that she was a fan girl or something. She'd be no better than that slimy nurse.

Sasuke breathed out through his nose deeply. "I see you were fired from one of your previous jobs, but it gives no indication why. It's very rare to be fired from a job when you're not even being paid as a student. Care to fill me in?"

Oh, yes, Sakura had known this was going to pop up in the conversation eventually. And she wasn't ashamed to admit that she had gotten fired. "Oh, not at all. As you can tell, I've been studying to be a doctor for a long time, and I've been an apprentice for a lot of people. I was transferred to a private practice during one of courses, and worked there for a little over a month before my boss started to get a little too comfortable with me..."

At this Sasuke arched a brow.

Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes. "He copped a feel!"

"Hn." Was all he said as he wrote something down in a small notepad? "It says here you punched him in the face and after that kneed him in the groin. Twice," He looked up at her then from the brim of his glasses. He had an amused expression.

This seemed to relax her a bit. "Um," She really didn't know how to explain her anger management problem. She'll admit that she had quite the temper. And being around Tsunade for seven years didn't help all that much either. That woman could toss a man if she wanted to, and Sakura wasn't too far from doing the same. "I don't take well to getting hit on by my bosses. And this guy was a real slime ball, so not only was it really gross, but also quite disturbing."

Sasuke seemed to understand this perfectly, though, instead of it being bosses. It was his own employees. But his partner in the business, and unfortunately, best friend thinks it `brightens up the office if you have bright, young nurses scouring the halls with their shiny eyes, and white smiles, as said in those words. Oh, if there ever was an eye roll as dramatic as Sasuke's had been that day.

Naruto was really an idiot. Sasuke had half the mind to think his blond, overenthusiastic friend had encouraged such a hiring, just so he could laugh his face off behind Sasuke's back. The dark-haired doctor found it very annoying, to say the least, knowing that you were being eyed like a piece of meat behind your back. They had been doing it blatantly so.

Sakura watched as Sasuke stared blankly at his desk as if he was deep in thought. She wondered what was going on in that head of his. It was really difficult in trying to get an inkling of what he was thinking. Quite unnerving if she thought about it hard enough. Surely, the story of abusing her boss wasn't depleting her chances of this apprenticeship. Tsunade would be so disappointed. And a disappointed Shishou was not a good thing.

She shuffled nervously in her seat, and to stop herself from tapping the arm of the chair she was sitting in; she placed both of her hands under her thighs. Her knees were jumping in a haste. Gee, she really needed to work on her anxiety levels. She was going to go crazy! She also needed to learn patience. Patience was the key.

"You're hired."

It took a long moment for Sakura to process what she had heard. More like what she thought she heard. However, it was regardless. She was hired. He didn't tell her to get lost, he didn't comment on her bad fashion sense, nor the oddity that was her hair. He was, simply put, professional. Oh, she could just kiss him, but she wouldn't. Because that would be really bad, plus she'd be no better than her ex-boss or that trollop of a woman at the nursing desk.

She was happy that Sasuke overlooked their past. He definitely had grown mature in his age. She probably would have called him out on it if she hadn't have gotten the job. Not that she felt like she deserved it, but it would have been something the old Sasuke would have done.

Well, at least she got the job.

"Thank you so much, Uchiha-san! You won't regret your decision." She said excitedly, reaching out her hand to shake his. Still wanting to keep up the professionalism. Obviously Sasuke wasn't mentioning anything about their past familiarity. And she definitely didn't want to come off rude by calling him by his given name. She didn't know where she stood now after so long of not seeing or hearing from each other. Plus, they hadn't exactly parted on good terms.

He took it, and firmly gave it a shake.

Another commendation of maturity. Maybe there was no hard feelings after all these years.

He spoke. "I expect to see you bright and early tomorrow. I will fill you in more of what you are going to be doing then. Tomorrow there will just be an examination of what you can do. See you then Sakura-san."

Sakura nodded and waited until she was down the hall, far away from the narrowing eyes of the nurses at the desk, down the elevator, out of the door and three blocks away before she shouted out as loud as she could in excitement and did some sort of happy dance. People stopped to stare at her weirdly; some men thought she was cute.

Finally stopping herself from anymore causes of embarrassment, such as dancing in the middle of a sidewalk, Sakura made her way swiftly to the subway station, wanting to get back to her apartment as soon as possible. Though, in the back of her mind she couldn't help but think that something was definitely off about Sasuke. She just didn't know what.

* * *

"Ino-pig, I got the job!" Sakura shouted as she slammed her way into the apartment she shared with her best friend.

Upon receiving no reply Sakura walked further into her home. See, you had to go down a hallway and pass the extra bathroom to get to the living room. To her right was the bathroom, to her left was the kitchen and then if you go a bit more down there's an archway to your left, and that's where the living room was. Upstairs were the bedrooms and two extra baths. "Hey, Pig, are you home?" She turned into the archway and nearly threw up all of her breakfast. "Oh my god, my eyes!" She shouted immediately turning around and covering her eyes, nearly face-planting into the wall.

"Ah! Sakura, you have the worst timing ever!" Came the shout of her best friend as she pushed her boyfriend away. She was rather enjoying the make-out session with her beloved, before Sakura decided to interrupt them. "A little warning would have been nice."

Shikamaru, Ino's college sweetheart and forever lazy bum, nodded while wiping his mouth and situating himself better on the couch. He really wished his girlfriend would just move in with him. Things like this wouldn't have to happen if that was the case. What a drag.

Sakura gaped, even though they couldn't see it. "Hey, I did warn you. You were just too distracted by Shikamaru's tongue to notice. I called your name twice, porker!" She screeched, her cheeks turning red from embarrassment. She saw Shikamaru in a whole new light, and she did not appreciate it.

Ino sighed and fixed her top and then brushed the hair out of her face. "All right, forehead, you can turn around now. Shika's calmed down." She teased.

Shikamaru just ignored her and went on to quickly falling asleep with his head resting back against the couch. He figured their conversation would take a while, so he might as well get comfortable. He definitely wasn't planning on leaving.

Sakura turned around, all things previously forgotten. "Oh my god, Pig. I got the job! We don't have to live off of tap water and instant ramen anymore!" She shouted in happiness, waking Shikamaru instantly. It didn't take the male long to fall asleep on the spot, but that also meant he was a light sleeper.

Ino ignored his disgruntled look and was soon jumping up and down in Sakura's arms as they exclaimed in glee. "Sakura that's awesome, what did Sasuke look like? Was he as hot as he was in high school?" She asked, pulling Sakura on to the couch, nearly sitting in Shikamaru's lap, being as the couch was meant for two people.

Sakura nodded enthusiastically. "So much hotter. The femininity has lessened due to age. However, not in that old gross way either, like, I mean you would be shocked with how handsome he is." She rambled. God, she felt like she was actually back in high school with the way she was talking.

Ino's eyes widened. "So, he didn't recognize you? At all?"

Sakura shook her head. "Nope."

Ino blinked her pretty blue eyes in shock. "How can he not remember you? You have pink hair! Not only, that, you were his high school sweetheart! You dated him for like six years."

"God, you two are so loud!" Shikamaru groaned. "That's it." He said, getting up and stretching, his shirt riding up, showing off pale skin and a nice trail of hair going down his navel.

Ino paused and watched her boyfriend, blatantly admiring. "Shika, where are you going?"

"I'm going to your bedroom. So I can go to sleep in the dark and quiet." He yawned, making his way upstairs. He was mumbling something about 'loud girls' and 'poor choices'

Ino pouted and turned back to Sakura. "He's very annoyed, you know?" Talking about the interruption on both the make out session and his attempt at a nap.

The rosette shrugged innocently. "He'll sleep it off."

Ino giggled behind her hand. "That's true."

"But yeah, he didn't recognize me... Surprisingly though, I'm not that upset about it." Sakura said with a smile.

"Say that to the years you grieved over the breakup." Ino muttered.

Sakura glared and smacked her friend lightly over the shoulder. "I did not grieve. And it's not like I didn't have a justifiable reason either. He broke up with me after our second year in college for no reason. Then he got married!" She exclaimed irritably.

Ino rolled her eyes. She's heard this story for years. "Yeah, yeah – Wait, did you notice if there was a ring on his finger? Does he still do that chin on laced hand's thing?"

Sakura blinked in wonder. "I wasn't really paying attention. You know, despite what you may think Ino, I did actually go there for the job, remember? I didn't find out he was the doctor I'd be working for until days after."

Ino waved her off. "Yeah, whatever. You know; I'm glad you're back Sakura. I've really missed you over the years."

Sakura smiled. "It's only been seven years. I'm just glad you kept the apartment all this time."

Ino rolled her eyes. "You're ridiculous. That's all you care about?!" She threw a couch cushion at Sakura's face and belted a laugh when Sakura fell back with an 'oomf!'

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

So, it has been awhile. I actually have a good reason for that. PC broke, moved and then didn't have the money to fix the computer I broke, and had to save up to get a new one which didn't work all that well either. Then lost the USB I had all my work in including My New Boss, turns out it was at my old house. Anyway, I'm sorry I disappeared for so many years. I only meant to get this story straightened out, I didn't think it'd 3 years. Sorry again everyone.

Yay for Sasuke and Sakura becoming Canon! Too bad Satsuki never became a real thing, but at least there's Sarada.

Disclaimer: Do not own!


	2. Chapter 1 Really I Didn't Know

_**My New Boss**_

 _ **Chapter.1**_

* * *

Sakura sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. She hadn't even started her job and already it was stressing her out. After her talk with Ino, Sakura had gone to take a long bath. Just thinking about what it would take to get adjusted to the hospital hours was filling her gut with trepidation and excitement. She didn't know which one overruled the other, however. It also meant no bath times. Ever. She was shaving her legs when she finally realized she was going to be working with Sasuke.

She never would have imagined him to be her boss, or for him to still hold hard feelings for so long. She at least expected him to be a little more respectful of her position. Sure, he was going to be bossing her around from now on, but that didn't mean he had to treat her like she never existed in his life in the first place.

Then again…

She paused slightly as she lathered up the shaving cream between her hands. Maybe it was for the best, if he acted like nothing ever happened then so could she. To make a point, she did an excellent job earlier for the interview if she said so herself. And yet, she felt like such an idiot in thinking it'd be a good idea to start working for Sasuke as his assistant. It's not like she really had a choice though, in the matter. Tsunade was doing her such a big favor in giving a recommendation for her so she could have a comfortable life in Konoha.

She clenched her hands together and narrowed her eyes. Why was it bothering her so much? Why did she care about this?!

"Ugh!" She clenched her fists into her hair dramatically and grumbled loudly.

Even though it had been seven years since they last saw each other. She was still upset about it. I mean, who could forget their first love? Of course... seeing as he dumped her without even giving her any real liable excuse that might say something about how he actually viewed their relationship. He even left her in the rain! It might even mean that he hadn't loved her at all...

But, Uchiha Sasuke was different. The name alone meant business, and Sasuke wasn't the type of person to just dump someone for no reason after you had been dating them all throughout high school and the first two years of college. I mean, there were thoughts of marriage and family! That's not how things worked! Six years don't end for nothing! Which was probably why it had taken her two years to actually realize that he had left her, and he that he wasn't coming back...

All of their friends had expected them to be the first to get married in the group. They had even made bets on how long it would take before little Uchiha's would be running around.

Sakura flinched as she nicked herself with her razor and watched as the blood slowly started to pool down her leg. She then felt the overwhelming sense of sorrow. She had promised herself years ago to never give Sasuke a reason to make her cry and she wasn't about to break that promise now. She was just so frustrated! He wasn't even there and he was already making her feel miserable. The rat bastard!

"Forehead?" She heard Ino knock from the other side of the door. "Look I know you're taking a bath, but you've been in there for an hour." The blond opened the door slightly and peeked her head in. She blinked and noticed the dark aura swirling around Sakura. "Uh, are you okay?"

Sakura looked up blankly, momentarily distracted from her previous thoughts. "Pig…"

Ino clenched her jaw and moved to grab a towel from their rack, standing before Sakura and motioning for her to stand. "Come on, forehead. Before you prune." The blonde would know that look from anywhere. It was the same hollow stare her best friend sported for two years before she had snapped out of her deep depression and actually started to live again. Sakura had all but forgotten how to cry, and hadn't done so since that day she left Konoha to continue her studies in the medical field.

The rosette blinked slowly, before she stood before her friend. Water running down her body and goosebumps rising on her arms and shoulders. Ino didn't hesitate in wrapping her friend up in the fluffy yellow towel. There was no talking to Sakura once she went catatonic. You just had to sit and wait for it to pass.

Ino had to admit though, Sakura was doing a lot better then she had seven years ago. The blonde sighed. Sasuke really was an insensitive jerk, he had no idea what he had given up on when it came to how amazing Sakura really was. "I really want to kill that guy."

Sakura smiled softly as she started to run her fingers through her damp hair, methodically tugging through the knots as Ino began to go off about Sasuke's miserable existence. "You know, I thought it would affect me a lot more than it is. I mean, of course I feel a little put off. I felt like he was looking right through me; you know?"

Ino didn't say anything, waiting for Sakura to continue.

"It was as if he was talking to a stranger. Of course, I didn't want to say anything, just in case he was doing it on purpose just to be purely professional. He looked the same, but I felt like something was off…" She pondered for a second, her hand stilling at a stubborn knot.

Ino looked doubtful, but nodded her head anyway, grabbing a brush to run through Sakura's shoulder length hair. "I still say he's an asshole. I don't care if he's trying to look professional. You don't just ignore someone like that. Especially seeing as, it's _you_ ,"

Sakura laughed. "You make it sound as if I mean something at this point."

"Hey," Ino said, sounding serious. "don't do that. Don't make yourself out to be someone who never meant anything to him. I don't care what he says; at some point you were Sasuke's entire world."

Sakura grimaced and stared at Ino's reflection looking back at her. "Thanks Ino."

Ino grinned and gave a chuckle. "Hey, you know… I wouldn't be surprised if Sasuke forgot about me too. I haven't seen him since you two broke up. He never really liked me that much anyway. He just tolerated me because I was your best friend."

Sakura shrugged, she had actually been wondering the same thing. "I don't know, to be honest." She tapped her chin. "Have you talked with any of the others?"

Ino shook her head. "No, I was way too busy worrying over you and trying to make my failing relationship with Sai work. Without even realizing it I had totally lost contact with everyone. I mean, I didn't really want to talk anyway because everyone was always harassing me about you." She sighed and finished drying Sakura's hair. "Not like it mattered anyway, it seems you and Sasuke were the only reason why the group stuck together for as long as it did anyway."

Sakura looked away in guilt. "I'm sorry."

Ino just waved her off. "You have nothing to apologize for. Sure, I love Tenten and Hinata but you and I were together since the beginning. I wasn't going to ditch you because of my relationship with my boyfriend. We were all in the wrong. We shouldn't have taken sides. Even if we didn't know we were doing it."

"Still," Sakura sighed. "I feel really guilty. They all probably hate me now."

Ino scoffed. "Please, Hinata would die before she ever hated anyone. And Tenten is way too easy going to think too much about the entire thing."

Sakura grinned feeling reassured.

Immediately at the sound of rapping against the door, they both started. They looked up only to see Shikamaru's head peaking behind the door, his eyes closed. "Is everything alright? You two have been here forever. I have to pee." He groaned, holding his hand firmly over his eyes.

Ino and Sakura laughed as they shuffled out of the way, Ino tugging Shikamaru down to peck his cheek and walked into Sakura's bedroom.

Sakura turned to look at Ino. "Thanks for coming to check on me."

The blonde shrugged with a smile. "Don't mention it. Just make sure to keep me posted on what's going on. I'm going to be busy with classes though, so just be patient with me."

The rosette nodded and patted Ino's back. "I will, you and Shika have a good night, yeah?"

Ino nodded and blew kisses playfully, walking into her room and closed the door behind her.

Sakura just shook her head as she disappeared behind the door. She stood on her feet a little shakily, her knees had gone numb and cold from being on the tile for so long. She pulled the towel from her head and looked at herself in the mirror. _'Don't let him get to you Haruno Sakura. You are a lot stronger and wiser than you were seven years ago.'_ She told herself.

And with that she took her time getting dressed, and settled herself into bed. She had to be in the right mindset for tomorrow or she'll for sure go crazy.

* * *

 _"Hey," a soft voice twinkled all of a sudden. "Sasuke-kun!"_

 _"Hn?" Was the grunt that followed? Sasuke barely looked away from the book he was reading._

 _Sakura smiled brightly. "Tell me you love me~" She sang joyously, her bright green eyes sparkling with mirth._

 _Sasuke look up and removed his glasses. His stare was as blank as it possibly could be. "What?"_

 _Sakura sighed and blew air up into her face to get the strands of hair out of her eyes. "Oh, come on! You said it last night!"_

 _Sasuke smirked as he pulled her arm until she was laying solidly against his chest as he rested back against the arm of the couch they had been resting on. "Hn, since I said it last night. Shouldn't that have been enough for you?" He said this as he tucked the hair behind her ear and rubbed his nose against hers._

 _Sakura nearly melted. And she knew he was doing this just to get her all flustered! But she wasn't going to let him win! She giggled and pulled at the collar of his shirt, her nose pushing softly at his cheek and her lips just softly skimming against his lips. "Well~" She drawled the word out. "Of course when you said it last night it was special. But then again, it's not every night you hear THE Uchiha Sasuke say he loves you. I want to hear it again." She said this while batting her long eyelashes and placing little kisses on his face._

 _Sasuke chuckled against her mouth and pulled away, only to tap her lips with his finger. Every breath he took Sakura would move with it. "You never cease to amuse me."_

 _Sakura smiled cheekily. "That's good, before I use to never cease to annoy you." She stuck her tongue out at him and pouted. "You were such a meany Sasuke-kun!" She smiled and moved up closer to where she was now looking down at his face. She ran her hand along his jaw. "I love you, Sasuke." She leaned forward to kiss him fully on the mouth, her arms wrapping around his neck. As she pulled away her hand moved to run through his hair._

 _Sasuke exhaled deeply, his eyes ingraining every detail of her into his memory. He never wanted to forget this girl. He sighed and ran his thumb against her lips. "Sakura," he paused to make sure he had her full attention. All she did was smile at him. He pulled her in for another kiss and held her there for as long as he could allow. He pulled only centimeters away, his mouth whispering gently against hers. "I love you."_

* * *

Sakura woke with a start. She was gasping for air and her chest was moving up and down at a rapid rate. She ran a hand through her sweat drenched hair and collapsed against her pillows. The covers were scattered messily at the end of her bed. She hadn't had a dream like that in years. Not since their break-up.

That moment in her life had probably been one of the best. That was the day after Sasuke had told her he loved her. They had been dating for a year and he was taking her out for a day with just the two of them, it was such a memorable night, they didn't really do anything. She was the type that wanted to wait until marriage and she was keeping to that! And the best part was that Sasuke respected her enough not to push her. All they did that entire night was look up at the stars as they sat on a stone bench near the gates of Konoha. Their home town.

Sakura huffed and rolled over on her stomach, grumbling all the while. She was going to have one hell of a headache in the morning.

 **. . .**

 **. . .**

 **. . .**

Sakura ran as fast as her legs could take her. The elevator doors were just about to close as she managed to tell herself it really wasn't a good idea to run in heels, her shoes clacked with each step she took. Before the doors could even close properly she had stuck her hand out and they automatically opened. As soon as she stumbled in, her entire front half was keeled over, her hands on her hips as she tried to regain her breathing. She took long, glorious breaths as she managed to shakily push the button to her floor. _Oh~_ If she had anything left to say about it she was never wearing heels again! And to be honest, she was never taking the subway either. That had to be worse than wearing heels! "Stupid perverts, daring to cop a feel in the middle of a train car."

She took her time standing straight, and blew a stubborn strand of hair to the side. She finally had the time to look around and nearly had a heart attack when she saw who she was riding on the elevator with. ` _Oh, crap, it's Sasuke!_ ' She mentally screamed. "O-Oh, uh, Uchiha-san… I-I d-didn't see you there. My apologies." She bowed as low as she could without touching the floor. "I seem to be a little distracted this morning."

She was about continue her nervous rambling, but stopped short when Sasuke held up his hand, immediately cutting her off. "Don't worry, its fine, Sakura-san," he smirked and shook his head. "There is no need for you to apologize, I myself have difficulty functioning in the mornings."

Sakura looked disbelieving. "Yeah right, you were always the early bird." She paused when she noticed the weird look he gave her. "I-I mean y-you seem like the type that would be more awake in the mornings." She cursed herself at her stutter and really just wanted to die right then and there.

"Yeah, well tell that to—" He was interrupted abruptly by the annoying ding, signaling that the elevator was finally at their floor.

If Sakura didn't have to stay with him, she would have bolted as soon as those doors opened, sadly she had to mourn over her embarrassment in her head.

"Come on, this way." He ordered.

Sakura nodded and walked calmly behind him, trying hard in not making it too obvious that she was having trouble keeping up with his long strides. It would have been easier if that stupid nurse hadn't told her it was protocol to wear heals on the first day. Though, she got the feeling that that nurse was just making a fool out of her. Oh, well, she wasn't going to let it get to her. But she was curious to what Sasuke was going to say back at the elevator.

"Your first patient is a middle aged woman. She's the wife of a prestigious businessman. I'll be watching you this time for observation, if I like what you do, I'll give you more patients. I'll be critiquing you also," he opened the door and motioned for her to go first. "Ladies first."

* * *

Sakura was walking aimlessly down the hall. She just finished eating her lunch and was now on her way back to Sasuke's office. She was looking around aimlessly when she heard a voice that was all too familiar, it was the only thing that could make her eyes mist over.

"Sakura-chan?"

Only one person in the world had the right to call her that, not even Sasuke called her that. She turned around and stared right in to the brightest blue eyes. She swallowed and smiled. "Naruto."

Before she could blink, her whole body was lifted off of the ground as Naruto wrapped her up in his broad arms. She breathed in the familiar scent of her childhood friend. Her brother. He still smelt of ramen.

"Oh my god," she heard him say hoarsely. "I—For once don't believe it." He laughed and continued to hold her tightly.

"Now, now, don't start getting all emotional on me." She felt him laugh against her neck and had to take a deeper breath as he squeezed her against him even more. "H-Hey, Naruto, it's okay."

"Shut up." He said, he took another minute and then he let her go. "Where the hell have you been?" Were the first words out of his mouth. His large hands cupped her cheeks as his eyes turned glassy. "Do you know how much I harassed your parents before they actually called the cops on me?! Me! They changed my diapers!" He exclaimed loudly.

Sakura couldn't help but laugh.

"Seriously," he muttered, looking her in the eyes searchingly. "Where did you go?"

Sakura sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I went to Suna."

All of a sudden Naruto's face morphed in anger. "Gaara, that bastard, he lied to me!" He looked about ready to kill.

Sakura sighed. "Naruto, I told him not to tell you where I was. He didn't like lying to you but I asked him to anyway." She looked down sadly. "I'm sorry. I was a coward."

Naruto sighed and looked away, then he looked back, hurt was everywhere in his eyes. "How could you leave without telling me?"

"I knew you would try to stop me." She whispered.

"Well no dip Sherlock!" He shouted angrily.

Sakura flinched away slightly. "You know why I left; you should have seen it coming." She stated indignantly. "I'm not going to be sorry for making a good choice," Naruto scowled. "But," She paused to take his hand. "I am sorry I left without telling you. It was wrong and very selfish of me."

Naruto sighed and frowned, but when he looked back at her all traces of anger and sorrow were gone. "It's okay, I understand why you left, but I missed you anyway!" He grinned cheekily.

Sakura shook her head and smiled, not surprised how fast he was able to jump right back up from a bad mood. He had definitely matured. He wasn't the same clumsy idiot she remembered back in the day. The boyish face was gone but she could tell the personality remained intact. He cleaned up really well too. As her eyes trailed down she noticed something shining in the hand she was holding. She immediately yanked his hand up to eye level and stared blatantly at the ring on his finger. "Naruto, you're married?!"

The blond had the gall to look smug. "Oh yeah, got hitched a little over six years ago, had a couple kids in the middle there too." He was beaming with pride.

Sakura grinned and smacked his shoulder. "Don't tell me, you married our sweet, shy Hinata-chan?"

The blond immediately looked content. "Yeah, she's been really amazing over the years. She understands me, you know?" He chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Though, Hiashi sure did try to put the fear of god in me. Gave me real hell that one did, but I eventually got her."

Sakura laughed. "That's amazing Naruto, you finally got the family you always wanted. I'm so proud."

He chuckled. "Yep, the only thing that was missing was my little sister."

She looked away regretfully.

"Hey," he said, taking her chin in his hand and making her face him. "It's okay, I don't blame you for anything. Besides, you got all the time to make up for it now."

Sakura hugged Naruto. "Thank you!"

He laughed and pulled away. "No problem. And yeah, not that I'm not happy to see you back or anything but what are you doing here?" His eyes shifted around nervously as if looking out for something.

She stuttered trying to come up with the right words. "I, uh, I work here now."

Naruto tried really hard not to gape in shock. "Oh, you—" He paused mid-sentence. "Wait! Please tell me you aren't the Teme's new surgical assistant?" One look at her was all the answer he needed. "Oh crap." He muttered.

Sakura sighed and nodded.

Naruto looked confused. "Why would you take this job? I never took you for a masochist Sakura-chan."

Sakura glared and smacked the blond over the head. "Baka, I didn't know it was Sasuke until days after I was assigned for the interview. I applied, and Tsunade had to use her connections to even get me in. This is a good hospital. It was a position I couldn't ignore."

"What? Granny was in on it too!? So both her and Gaara lied?"

Sakura clucked her tongue. "Oh, Naruto, you sure know how to hold a grudge."

"Hell yeah I do, especially when it concerns my most important people. And, uh, about Sasuke…"

"Oh you don't even have to worry about that, Sasuke didn't even seem to know who I was." She meant to wave off the whole entire subject. "I guess it's a good thing, though, it saves me the trouble of having to deal with all the awkwardness." She continued.

"Sakura, there's something—"

"But, I guess you would know, you are his best friend. I guess we all have ways of coping." She was really starting to ramble again.

Naruto however was really starting to get frustrated. "Sakura-chan," he said frantically. "Stop talking!"

"What's your problem?" She asked, extremely confused.

Naruto was about to go crazy. "Sasuke doesn't recognize you because he doesn't know who you are!" He finally shouted.

She just stood there with a blank expression. And he immediately regretted his choice of words.

"Ah, crap, Sakura-chan that came out all wrong! T-There was an accident and he lost his memories and you w-weren't around a-and Karin had burned all of the pictures and other stuff he had of you. And you know, Ino never returned our calls and no one told us where you were. Sasuke got better… but he never remembered you. I mean, I tried to show him some pictures but M-Mikoto-san just told me to stop… I'm sorry. I wish I would have tried harder." He took a deep breath. He looked so sullen it broke Sakura's heart.

Sakura blinked a few times, swallowing the lump that had managed to lodge itself in her throat. Her mouth felt like it had cotton in it and it was increasingly getting harder to talk. She felt like she wanted to scream, cry and drink herself silly and punch a wall all at the same time. "So," she said, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. "That's what happened…" She looked away. "I'm guessing it was a car accident?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah," he rubbed the side of his face. "Sakura-chan, it was really bad. So, so bad." He took her hand and dragged her to a couple seats that were located in an empty waiting room.

"Naruto?"

"Well, two years after you left, Sasuke got married. That's who Karin is, well, his wife. Was his wife. Mikoto and Fugaku arranged it. A year later, they had a baby, a boy actually. Man, Sakura-chan, you have to see this kid. He is pure Sasuke inside and out. And not the pompous one now, like the old Sasuke." Naruto just shook his head in wonder, still not able to believe it.

Sakura smiled bitterly, not really meaning to. Any child of Sasuke's had to be beautiful. She frowned suddenly, thinking back on what Naruto just said. "Wait, you said " _was_ " his wife. Are they not married anymore?" Not that she cared really.

Naruto continued looking solemn. "When Satsuki; Sasuke's kid, turned one, I suggested that he and Karin go and have a weekend vacation alone while Hinata-chan and I watched Satsuki-chan." This is the part where Naruto started to struggle. "Well, Sasuke and Karin dropped him off—The weather was pretty screwed up. And I tried so hard to get Sasuke to stay, and to just wait it out, but Karin really wanted to get on the road. About an hour later we got a call from the hospital."

Sakura had one hand holding Naruto's while the other was covered over her mouth.

He sighed and squeezed her hand back. "Karin died on impact and Sasuke was really messed up. The doctors said it was a miracle that he survived. He had amnesia and he was covered in bruises and scratches. Glass had managed to dig into his skin and he had to go through some major surgery. The physical therapy was a nightmare. The only good thing that really came out of it was that he remembered Satsuki right away. He remembered the accident and Karin. It took a little while for him to come to the fact that she was gone."

Sakura shook her head. She shuffled her hands together anxiously.

"It took a good six months for him to get out of the hospital, during that period of time Sasuke regained back most of his memory." He finished with a long, drawn out sigh. "I don't think I'll ever forget the day he looked at me with blank eyes and asked me who I was. Literally crushed me. It was bad enough losing you, and then on top of that it felt as if I had lost Sasuke."

Sakura had to look anywhere but at him. She knew one look at those sorrow filled deep sapphire blues she'd be a blubbering mess. Even if she hadn't cried in years.

"Sakura I wished so much that he would remember you. I knew you were exactly what he needed but Mikoto-san—You know how she is…" He trailed off guiltily.

Sakura sighed and wrapped and arm around his shoulders. "It's okay Naruto. Don't worry, I understand." She hummed and glanced over at her watch. "Look, I have to get to work; let's try to catch up when I have more time. Bring Hinata-chan and the kids along next time too." She walked out of the waiting room and back into the halls.

"Wait Sakura-chan!" She heard Naruto shout from behind her.

She stopped and glanced behind her shoulder. He smiled and turned her around and then wrapped his arms around her. "It's really nice to have you back, Sakura-chan." He whispered.

Sakura laughed, wheezing only slightly, and squeezed his waist in return.

He pulled away and had on that same dopey grin as he always had. "Hinata-chan, would love to see you again."

Sakura nodded and patted his cheek. "Okay sweetie." She started to turn as she waved goodbye and paused just as soon as she faced forward. There was her boss, glaring between her and Naruto.

Naruto immediately smiled and shouted. "Sasuke-teme!"

Sasuke ignored the blond and faced Sakura. "Sakura-san, you're needed in room 309. Meet me back at my office when you're finished."

Sakura nodded and walked towards him, taking the chart with the patient's file as she walked passed. She turned around and looked at them nervously but continued her trek down the hallway.

Sasuke and Naruto were watching her as she left. Sasuke had waited until she was out of sight before he spoke. They both stood there in the hall, with their hands in their pockets. And then Sasuke asked the big question. "Dobe?"

"Yeah?" Naruto asked back with a raised brow.

"Are you cheating on Hinata?"

You could have heard a pin drop.

* * *

 **A/N:** Wow, thank you guys so much for the support. It feels like I never left. I truly appreciate it! Hopefully you liked this chapter, I know there's only a little bit going on right now. I also apologize for the grammatical errors and other mistakes. Please continue to show your support.

Thanks so much, Jung-Hee


	3. Chapter 2 Burn

_**My New Boss**_

 _ **Chapter. 2**_

* * *

"Sasuke-teme, I can't believe you'd think I'd ever cheat on my precious Hinata-chan!" Naruto looked absolutely scandalized. "What type of person do you take me for?"

That was a stupid question, Sasuke thought with a roll of his eyes. He sighed quietly as Naruto went off on a tangent about his sworn love for his dear ' _Hinata-chan_ '.

"For what you are, an idiot." That was Sasuke's immediate response when he finally caught a break between Naruto's incessant babbling.

Naruto scowled and Sasuke smirked back cockily. A second passed and then Sasuke turned serious. "How do you know Sakura-san, anyway?"

Naruto choked on his spit, and shifted around nervously, his eyes looking anywhere but at his friend.

Sasuke noticed Naruto's change in demeanor and brought up this fact. "You look guilty."

Naruto spluttered, indignant. "I do not, you bastard! I love my Hinata-chan! I would never cheat on her. Sakura-chan and I are just friends, who haven't seen one another in a very long time!" He defended. He crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. Sasuke just raised his brows.

" _"Sakura-chan"_ ," Naruto instantly paled. "So, you're that comfortable with her? Tell me dobe," Sasuke said offhandedly, interlacing his hands and leaning his head on his knuckles. "We've known TenTen and Hinata for many years, since freshman year of high school, correct?"

Naruto nodded slowly, not really knowing where the Uchiha was going with this. However he got a feeling that whatever it was, it wasn't going to be good. "Yeah... What of it?"

Sasuke nodded along thoughtfully. "Right, the only other person you've ever used the suffix "chan" was for Hinata. And even then you waited until after you started dating her and knew for a fact you were going to stay together, why? I don't care about the details. You're an idiot, but apparently you find that endearment rather sacred." He scoffed.

"That's because Sakura-chan-," He bit his lip to stop himself from saying something stupid. He was beginning to sweat just from the scrutiny. What was with the third degree? Sasuke had never been interested this badly in his personal affairs. What was so different now?

Sasuke looked smug. "Is there something you are not telling me?" He asked curiously, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the blond. He didn't know why he was so interested in how Naruto knew Sakura. It was like there has been an untouchable itch that he couldn't reach ever since he met Sakura. And seeing Naruto so familiar with her, had just set something off in him.

Naruto sighed and sat down in the chair across from Sasuke's desk. "Okay! The only reason I'm even saying anything right now is because I don't want you thinking bad of me, which, beyond all reason I cannot fathom to think!" Naruto took a deep breath. "The reason why I'm so familiar with Sakura is because..."

* * *

"Alright, Kiyoshi-san that's it for today. I'll see you in two months."

Kiyoshi smiled warmly at the young woman standing before her. "Thank you so much Haruno-san. You are really too kind. I've never seen someone so well invested in their patients before. You really did me a service by being so kind to this old woman. I'll have to request to have you see me from now on." The elder woman smiled warmly as she passed by Sakura with a pat to her flushed cheek.

Sakura beamed as she watched her patient walk away, _`What a nice lady.'_ Sakura smiled a small smile as she walked, feeling accomplished. She turned the corner of one hall and started to make her way back to Sasuke's office, which was a few more turns and through a couple more sections of this hospital wing. She wondered if Naruto would still be there, and was worrying slightly about what he could possibly be telling their old onyx eyed friend. She knew the position Sasuke had caught them in was a little precarious, but she knew that her blond friend had a way with words and for some reason Sasuke had always had a soft spot for Naruto. She knew he could take care if.

With that thought in mind Sakura decided to take a little detour and grab her a cup of coffee in the nurse's lounge. A few extra minutes wouldn't kill her, Naruto was a big talker anyway, plus, it would just be awkward if she came and the blond was still there. Yep, coffee was a good idea. She'd even get Sasuke some too, just because she was feeling a little generous.

She was opening the door to the nurse's lounge when she heard a familiar song suddenly play from her doctor's jacket. She only jumped a little, recovering from the slight surprise, she sighed and dug her hand through her pocket and pulled out her phone, she pressed the receive button and placed the cell against her ear. "Hey piglet." She rolled her eyes when she heard Ino's huff.

 _"Forehead! Hey babe, how's work so far?"_ The blond shouted through the mouth piece. There was rock music pounding in the background, and Sakura immediately knew Ino was in her studio.

"Terrible, now that I'm deaf." The rosette joked, walking over to the counter with the coffee. She held the phone snugly between her shoulder and ear as she went to getting two Styrofoam cups and pouring the piping hot coffee into the cups from the coffee pot.

 _"Oh, hardy-har-har you're just hilarious."_ Ino snuffed out sarcastically, the music in the background slowly turned to a dull rumble as Ino prattled on to Sakura about how her day was going and how her art project was going ridiculously horrible.

Sakura couldn't help but laugh as she finished making her coffee and went on to making Sasuke's. There had to be a whole lot of cream, and no sugar. And it had to be powdered creamer or it didn't taste right. She still remembered. She just hoped his tastes were still the same as they had been.

 _"You still didn't answer my question."_ Her blonde friend said, interrupting her musings. _"I asked how your first day was going? Is Sasuke being nice to one of the best surgical assistants known to mankind?!"_

Sometimes Ino really could be over the top.

Sakura shook her head and sighed. "It's going great Ino, I can't wait until I get home so I can tell you everything that's happened so far. And you'll be glad to know that I've hardly spent any time with Sasuke since I've been here." Okay, that was only partly true, considering she was his assistant. Half of the time she had no choice but to be around Sasuke. That's just how it worked when you were working for one of the best surgeons in Japan.

She heard Ino's shout of happiness. _"That's awesome forehead!"_ They both laughed. _"But there's another reason why I called; Shikamaru and I are going out tonight, we were wondering if you wanted to come with us? Shika's treat."_

Sakura couldn't help but laugh when she heard Shikamaru's shout of protest.

 _"Ignore the lazy idiot in the background. He's just being stingy, so, you up for it?"_ She persisted.

Sakura shook her head as she gathered the coffees into her hands. "Nah, it's fine, you and Shikamaru go have fun."

Ino whined. _"Aw, are you sure? Shikamaru doesn't care you know; he was only messing around- look at what you did Shikamaru!"_ Ino snapped over the other line at her boyfriend.

"No, Ino it's not Shikamaru's fault! I honestly don't feel like going. Besides, Sasuke's making me take some patients files home, I won't have time to do anything but that. Next time I'll definitely go out with you." She insisted. That wasn't a lie, she did have to take the files home with her and do some "studying". Sasuke wanted her to at least memorize every high paying clients' name and diagnosis.

 _"Oh, fine, alright, but I want all the details of your day. I'll have your dinner ready by the time you get home!"_ She stated.

Sakura frowned. "Ino, I won't be home until really late tonight."

Ino snorted. _"Duh! This is why I'll make dinner for you. We can talk while you're eating. I don't care if you're tired, it sounds like something good happened today and I'm not waiting forever and a day for you to tell me!"_

Sakura shook her head, but relented. "Okay, fine, you win. I'll see you when I get home. Try not to make too much of a mess."

Ino scoffed. _"It wouldn't be called art if I didn't make messes! Bye forehead!"_

Sakura scoffed as she put her phone back into her pocket. She gathered the coffee cups in her hands and started to make her way to Sasuke's office.

* * *

"So, you and I grew up with Sakura-san? And we were friends?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

Naruto nodded. The blond had decided to tell Sasuke only half of the truth, and it was the half that wouldn't get him murdered by Sakura. "Yep, you just never remembered her after the accident." He stated offhandedly. This was the truth. "Not surprising really, Sakura left abroad for a few years around the time you got married. So she hadn't been around for you to be able to get the chance to recognize her." He really hoped Sasuke wouldn't ask for details about anything else.

Sasuke sat there with a contemplative expression. "So, were we close?"

This is where Naruto lied. "Uh, you could say that, I guess- Sakura-chan and I were a lot closer though." Oh god, he was so going to hell. He could practically see the wheels turning in Sasuke's head. He had to be tactful so Sasuke wouldn't catch him in the lie. He tried really hard not to look nervous.

Sasuke nodded in understanding, but then a look crossed his face, and Naruto really didn't like that. "Yet, for someone who was my friend, how come no one mentioned her or showed pictures of her. I think I would remember seeing someone like her in pictures. She's got pink hair. Not really common." He said sardonically, running his temples. A headache was coming on and it wasn't doing him any good.

Naruto was about to speak and try and defend himself and more so Sakura, but Sasuke beat him to it.

"She didn't even show any reaction when she first saw me; she acted like she'd never seen me before. Some friend she turned out to be." He stated and crossed his arms as he sunk into his chair.

Great, now Naruto was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He had to get through this with great precision and hope to god Sasuke didn't see right through him. Ugh, curse words! Why was he such a terrible liar?! Naruto smiled sheepishly and scratched at his neck. "Gee Sasuke," he croaked out with a dry laugh. "You sure are chatty today? I think that's the most I've heard you speak in all our 28 years of life!" He continued to laugh only to slowly cut himself off at Sasuke's lack of humor; tough crowd much.

Sasuke glared. "Dobe," he hissed. "What aren't you telling me?"

Naruto sighed and slumped against his knees. "Okay, look, it's not my place to tell you anything major, that's purely between you and Sakura-chan! But all I can say is that you two have some history."

Sasuke's brows furrowed. "What, like romantically?" He couldn't even make himself believe it. It was impossible he had ever been involved with Haruno. He had been married. He has a kid... There was just no way. Besides, Naruto said they had been closer than he had been with her.

Naruto faltered. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to lie about something like that. "I'm not going to say anything about that, that's strictly between you and Sakura-chan. That's her business and I'm not going to say anything, especially without her permission..." He trailed off looking glum. "I at least owe her that much."

Sasuke couldn't help the confusion from spreading on to his face. Things just weren't making sense. He had hoped Naruto would say that Sakura and he had just been acquaintances back then, but the blond didn't even try to deny his question. So did that mean they had been involved, or was the dobe just too preoccupied in keeping Sakura's business, as her business?

"Fine, if you won't tell me anything else about our past, then explain to me why I can't remember her or why there is no pictures...? You've never mentioned her, and she seems pretty important to you."

"She is important…" Naruto trailed off with a solemn expression. Why was Sasuke asking so many questions? Naruto bit his lip and struggled really hard in finding an excuse. He could tell the truth, but Sakura would probably be mad if he mentioned it- but it would be the right thing to do, and it's not like he's breaking any trust of Sakura's since she hadn't known about this detail until he himself told her... Ah, what the hell. "Karin had them trashed and burned." Crap, he had meant for that to come out a little bit more delicately.

To say the least Sasuke looked surprised. And then the surprise turned to confusion, and then immediately went to being pissed off. All in the span of ten seconds... Woah, that was a new record.

It was about five minutes before Sasuke gathered his bearings and finally spoke. "Karin had known Sakura-san? She trashed and burned everything of Sakura's memory." Sasuke finally asked, trying to mask his anger. If Naruto hadn't known him for so long he wouldn't have seen it. But he had. And he did.

Naruto nodded at his friend's question. "Well, not personally. She just, you know, knew of her." He winced at how pathetic of a cover that was. He was digging his own grave here! This was all he was going to say, no more questons. "Look Sasuke, this is really starting to get uncomfortable for me. Please stop asking me about your relationship with Sakura-chan!" Naruto pleaded, his blue eyes were practically begging him for mercy.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at how dramatic his friend was but conceded anyway. "Fine, I'll just talk to Sakura about it later."

Naruto's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. "No! Teme you cannot tell Sakura about this, she can't know I've even said anything!" He screeched, standing on his feet and leaning over the desk to grab Sasuke's collar and staring him frantically in the eyes.

Sasuke growled and pulled at Naruto's wrist trying to get him to let go. "I have a right to talk to her, this is a part of my life that's missing here dobe. I have just as much a right to know, as she does in keeping it a secret." He stated angrily.

Naruto nodded in understanding, still holding tight to Sasuke's shirt. "Yes, I know, and eventually you will be able to talk to her about it, but not now!" No, it was too soon. Call him selfish but he had just got one of his precious people back into his life, and he wasn't about to lose that again. He knew Sakura wasn't ready for such a confrontation from Sasuke. One word from him would send her back to Suna or wherever she would go this time just to get away from the pain.

Sasuke glared and seethed, words coming out through clenched teeth. "Why the hell not?"

Naruto fumbled. "Just- because, look promise you won't say anything to her about anything until you get to know her. Wait it out and see if you don't remember her or something. I'd rather you try and get the memories back than confronting her about it." He stated, dead serious. He was not going to watch Sakura get hurt again.

"That still doesn't answer my question. Why?" Sasuke asked.

The blond rolled his eyes. Uchiha's with their stupid, stubborn pride. "Because you and Sakura-chan weren't exactly on good terms with each other when she left. Or, well, as far as I know. You two never really told me exactly what happened."

Sasuke's brows scrunched. He was really starting to get a headache, and Naruto was still wrinkling his shirt. "What? Did we fight or something? And dobe, let go of me!" He hissed, smacking the blonds hands away from his collar.

Naruto stood back straight, watching as Sasuke fixed himself. "Stop asking questions and do as I say. Look, I've got to go. I was supposed to have met up with Hinata-chan and the kids an hour ago." He stated, walking over towards the door.

Sasuke didn't like this, he still had more questions. But he knew he wasn't going to get anywhere now, Naruto's guard was way up and if he pushed anymore it could end badly. Stupid Naruto and his cursed sense of loyalty. "Okay, fine... I'll drop it."

Naruto smiled, you could tell he was relieved. "Cool, alright, I'll come back tomorrow. I have a couple of brains to dig into, so I should be here fairly early." He said, reaching out for the door handle and pushing it open, not really paying attention.

Sasuke closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, when he opened them he saw a flash of pink and saw the situation getting bad. "Wait, Naruto, lookout!" He tried to say but immediately winced when he heard Sakura's shriek and a big crash.

"Sakura-chan! I'm so sorry, crap! Is that coffee? Oh, no! Ice! No that'll make it worse. Water!" Naruto's hands were hovering over Sakura's flushed arms as he continued to cry out apologies. The situation being too much for him to actually gather some clear thought.

Sasuke was already there when Naruto got his bearings enough to call for him. There was spilt coffee all over the place and most of it was on Sakura. He knew she had to have been burned, and she wasn't really wearing much layered clothing, the most of it had spilt in the inner layer of her coat. And she was taking deep breaths and her eyes were squeezed tight.

Sasuke knelt down by her side, while Naruto had taken to running to the sink that was conveniently connected to the wall, along with other things suited for a Doctor's office. "Nice going, she probably has first to second degree burns idiot." He snapped with a glare. Already he was working on removing Sakura's jacket from her person, and as it slid down her arms he could tell that her right arm was starting to redden and slightly blister. He sighed and shook his head. "Naruto, go get some ointment from the nurses desk I don't have any in here, and get her some scrubs too." He ordered.

Naruto didn't take his time in complaining about being ordered around and took to running down the hall to get the things Sasuke had asked for.

Sasuke clucked his tongue and took both of Sakura's elbows into his hands and started to stand, slowly pulling her up with him. "Where are you burnt the most? Did it only directly hit your arms?" He asked.

Sakura's reply was shaky and her eyes were still closed, but he could tell she was starting to calm down. "Yeah, my arms… But also on my chest."

His eyes skimmed to her neck and collar bone area and actually saw the bright red flush. He shook his head, he had hoped it had only gotten on her arms. "Take off your shirt. I need to see how bad it is, your arms are blistering. You're chest is a lot more sensitive than your arms are, I can only imagine how much pain you are in right now.

Sakura chuckled and opened her eyes slightly, looking at him with amusement. "Uchiha-san, I've only been working here for four hours and already you want to see me naked?"

At least she still had her good sense of humor. Sakura shook her head and started to relax. The wet and sticky feeling from her clothes was starting to feel gross and uncomfortable on her. "No, I'm fine, it's not that bad."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, great, she just had to be stubborn. "You're still going to have to take your clothes off anyway, why not just let me see so I don't have to worry about you suing one of my best brain surgeons. Over spilt coffee no less." He stated.

Sakura grumbled and narrowed her eyes right back at Sasuke. "No, I can wait until Naruto gets back. And I'll change and dress my wounds without you!"

What a stupid girl. Though, strangely enough, Sasuke found this type of behavior oddly familiar. Something felt off, he felt like he's done this before. Not in this exact setting, but with Sakura. That shocked him; maybe he really did know Sakura. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Fine," he relented. "But when you change into the scrubs, will you at least let me look? I'm a doctor, I'm suppose to be concerned."

Sakura thought about it and relented with a nod. "Okay."

Sasuke looked satisfied and stood. He looked at her coat and frowned. "I'm going to have to order you another coat."

Sakura giggled and waved him off. "Don't worry about it, I know how to get the stain out. Though, I'm sorry that I wasn't able to get you your coffee."

Sasuke was only a little bit flattered that she thought to bring him coffee. But before he could properly thank her for the thought, Naruto came barreling through the doors, with the needed materials in his hands.

"Sakura-chan, I'm here!" He looked like he ran a marathon, though he had only ran down the hall.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Naruto could be so dramatic. "Dobe, shut up, I've got it from here. You were supposed to see Hinata, remember?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Oh, crap! You're right!" He dumped everything into Sasuke's arms and ran back to the door. "I'm sorry Sakura-chan, but I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow!" And with that the slamming of the door cut off anymore sight of the reckless blond.

Sakura chuckled at her friend. "Good to know he never changed." She said this under her breath, but Sasuke heard it anyway.

"Hn, here, let me know when you're finished." With that he stepped out of the office.

 **Five minutes later.**

"Okay," he heard from behind the door. "You can come in."

Sasuke pulled the door and stepped in, pulling it shut behind him. Sakura was standing up and pushing her pink locks behind her into a ponytail. She was wearing the blue scrubs Naruto had brought her.

"Alright," he said, walking over to where she was. "Let me see."

Sakura's lip jutted out and she opened her mouth to protest, but Sasuke stopped her by placing a finger over her lips. "A deals a deal." And without any preamble, Sasuke yanked her shirt up, showing her flat, yet extremely red stomach. If it wasn't for the fact he knew she had been burned, he would have thought her stomach was blushing. He had managed to get her shirt up under her arms and the end of it tucked under her chin. His eyes didn't linger on anywhere but her burned skin.

Sakura blushed a bright fuchsia as Sasuke basically got a front row seat at her breasts. Though stained, thankfully she thought better to keep her bra on.

He reached over for the ointment absently and twisted the cap open, and then poured a decent amount onto his fingers. Sakura stood stock still as she felt his fingers rub against her skin. Great, if she didn't pull herself together she would definitely have to explain the blush gracing her cheeks. Ino was not going to believe this. "Y-You really don't have to do that. I was going to do it. I mean, I'd be a pretty useless doctor if I didn't know how to do this." She cursed herself for stuttering.

Sasuke grunted but didn't look away from what he was doing. "It's fine. I don't mind. This'll probably take a week to heal. Sorry Naruto was so incompetent."

She sighed and tried her best not to fidget as she felt his fingers carefully rub along her skin. Obviously she knew better than to think this was more than her boss being concerned, even if it did seem a little overly so. She knew not to read too much into it though, she'd be pretty stupid to think otherwise. She just didn't like the idea of him seeing her so weak. She was a capable doctor in her own right, and here she was letting him take care of her. It really pissed her off.

After he was finished she immediately pulled down her shirt. "That wasn't necessary, Uchiha-san." She grouched, still embarrassed by their close proximity.

Sasuke shrugged and smirked, his eyes glinting with mischief. "I guess it was just my doctors' instincts."

Sakura had to roll her eyes. "Whatever." _`'Doctors' instincts? What a bunch of crap!'_

They were still standing really close, and they were both staring at each other, lost in their own thoughts. But it was broken by the sound of people talking outside of the office. As she looked away Sasuke frowned and flexed his fingers. He made a mental note to never touch her again... No matter how good it felt.

* * *

"Ino, I'm home!" Sakura shouted loudly as she walked in her home, throwing her keys in the bowl on the little desk stationed against the wall in the entry way and carelessly took off her shoes. She padded barefoot down the hall and passed the kitchen seeing her friend cooking what smelled like curry. "Mmm, smells good in here."

Ino smiled and turned around in acknowledgement raising a spoon to her before she took a taste of her curry. "Yep, and it's delicious. It's almost ready, so go get changed. I could have sworn you were wearing something else." She rambled, turning back to the pot of food.

"I'll explain over dinner." Sakura said behind her as she walked away. She made her way to the stairs and held the banister as she climbed them, taking a right to head to her bedroom and adjoined bath. Ino's being the room to the left of the staircase. Though they didn't have a very big apartment, it was still a very decent size.

The rosette sighed as she walked into her room, it smelled of vanilla and coconut, with hints of fruity smells. She first walked into the bathroom and switched on the light as soon as she entered her room. She turned on the water and made sure it was at the right temperature and stuffed the jacket into the sink. She then reached into the cabinet and found the thing she needed to soak her coat in. When the sink was full she shut off the water and walked back out into her room, letting her coat soak so she could fully wash it later.

She quickly went to changing and scowled at the soreness she felt from the front half of her body. She slipped off her bra and was thankful that it was just her and Ino tonight. She hadn't seen Shikamaru's car in the parking lot, nor could she hear his loud snoring come from Ino's room when she was climbing the stairs. She pulled on an old t-shirt of Sasuke's that she could never bring herself to get rid of. It was big on her, big enough to reach down to mid-thigh. The smell of him was long gone but it still comforted her enough to have it.

Ino was just setting the pot on the table when Sakura walked into the dining area. "Shikamaru finally decided it was about time he go home?" She asked as she sat on her knees, pulling the lid off of the pot and looking into to see piping hot curry rice.

Ino nodded. "Yeah, his editor called while we were driving back here. Apparently he had to finish his next book over the weekend or they were all "screwed"!" She waved her hands dramatically and rolled her eyes.

Sakura giggled. "If only Kakashi-sensei knew who Shikamaru's friends were." They shared a knowing look as Ino passed her the side dishes and utensils.

"That old perv would throw a fit. It's a shame you stopped all contact with him. He harassed me for weeks looking for you, he honestly felt bad." She mentioned as she clasped her hands together. "Thanks for the meal." She whispered.

Sakura did the same and then reached for her small cup of green tea, and took slow sips. "I have a lot of catching up to do, don't I?"

Ino laughed. "Heck yeah you do."

Sakura stuck her tongue out, she then took her time spooning some curry and then sticking it in her mouth. She swallowed and then started to speak. "You won't believe the day I had today."

Ino grinned and shuffled to get comfortable, still eating. "Spill,"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I saw Naruto!"

Ino's eyes widened and she choked around her food. "What? Really?" She couldn't believe it.

Sakura nodded and then proceeded to tell her, in detail, everything that had happened to her that day. It had taken Sakura exactly one hour to explain everything to Ino. After everything was said and they were sipping on what was left of their green tea, all Ino could do was sit there with a shocked expression.

"Wow, that's quite a story… So that's what happened to Sasuke? And Hinata and Naruto finally got married! Just wow," she tapped the rim of her tea cup grimly. "At least you had a better excuse for avoiding them. What was mine? Oh yeah, I was too caught up in my jerk of a boyfriend back then to even care about anyone else—Except you of course." She said.

Sakura patted Ino's hand sympathetically. "Hey, don't be too hard on yourself. Sai was a jerk. I don't blame you for avoiding the others, that's what we get for having the same circle of friends." She said reassuringly, repeating Ino's words from before.

Ino just sighed and started to raise herself off of her cushion on the floor. "I think I need some sake." She grinned down at Sakura as she walked to the ice box.

Sakura just laughed. "Get me a cup too pig. I need something to help me relax."

Ino snorted. "Yeah you do, especially after having the sex god Uchiha Sasuke feel you up today." She barked out a laugh at Sakura's scandalized expression.

"He did not feel me up!" She defended with a squeaky voice, the memories of earlier were coming back and so was that embarrassing blush. She was never going to live this down.

By the end of the night, Sakura and Ino were rolling on the floor exchanging stories that had transpired over the last few years. Sakura felt like things could only start getting better. She just hoped it lasted.

* * *

 **A/N:** So another chapter. Yay! Sorry if it's going slow. Please enjoy and continue to wait and see how the story unfurls. Sorry for any mistakes.


	4. Chapter 3 Memory

**_My New Boss_**

 ** _Chapter. 3_**

* * *

 _"Sasuke?"_

 _"Hn?" Sasuke grunted through his sleep muddled brain, physically unable to look at his girlfriend. He furrowed his brows and stuffed his face further into his elbow as he tried to get more comfortable from laying on a desk for far too long. He really should have skipped out on third period like he usually does._

 _Sakura huffed and placed her hands over her hips. "Look at me when you're talking to me or should I say, grunting? You're not a caveman!" She grinned at his glare. Really, he's been sleeping so much lately, it was getting ridiculous. "If you're just going to sleep, you might as well have just ditched class with Naruto like usual._

" _I was just thinking the same thing… Too late now, I guess." Sasuke looked up from his slumped position to scowl fully at the rosette. His head shifted slightly on his arm, while he raised his other to block himself from the light coming from the window. It was too bright for this. "What do you want?"_

 _Sakura rolled her eyes, and Naruto walked up with a snicker, also deciding to not skip out on class for once. "Wow, you look like crap Teme. Workin' the corner getting too tough for you?" He laughed and dodged the book Sasuke threw at him, but wasn't able to block the hand who smacked him over the back of his head. "Wah! Sakura-chan, that was funny!" He grumbled as he fought to plead his case._

 _"Naruto, you're an idiot. Don't call Sasuke a prostitute!" Sakura snapped._

 _The blond rolled his eyes but flinched as Sakura raised her hand as if to hit him again. "Go on, stalk Hinata or something." She grouched pushing him away roughly._

 _Sasuke let out an undignified snort as Naruto spluttered all over the place as he shrieked in denial, managing to knock himself into a couple of desks. He shook his head deeming Naruto not important enough for his full attention and looked back up to his girlfriend. "Something wrong?"_

 _Sakura frowned slightly and played with some strands of her hair. "Yeah, I got a call from your mom again... She wants me over this weekend."_

 _Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "No, I told you not to go see my parents, unless I'm around. You know Itachi and I are leaving for the city this weekend."_

 _"I know that," Sakura sighed and shifted his arm slightly so she could sit on his desk and pet at his hair. Good thing their teacher wasn't paying attention. She sighed and cocked her head to the side with narrowed eyes. "I can't just ignore her though. She already hates me; I don't want to make things worse."_

 _Sasuke sighed and sat up straighter, leaning back into his chair thus having Sakura's hand fall to her lap limply. His face was blank, but you could tell he was irritated. He brought his hands off the desk and shoved them in his pockets._

 _He clenched his teeth together and balled his hands into fists in his pockets. He was really starting to get frustrated with his parents trying to meddle in his relationship with Sakura. It was getting annoying._

 _"Hey," she said, bringing him out of whatever mental battle he was in. "I won't go if you don't want me to. I'll tell her something important came up or whatever." She waved her hand, she really didn't want to ruin their day. Especially since it barely started._

 _"No," he snapped. He breathed deeply through his nose to try and calm down. He was not going to take his frustrations out on Sakura. That's what Naruto was for. Still, he could not believe what he was about to say. "Go. You're right; it probably won't make mother happy if you cancel her plans." He said calmly, looking at her; his head was cocked to the side just like hers had been, only he still looked annoyed._

 _However, Sakura took this expression as his every day set face. He was finally calmed down._

 _Sakura snorted and shook her head. "You Uchiha's are so wish-washy. Make up your minds." She joked._

 _Sasuke grunted but made no further comment. Sakura decided it best to change the subject. "So, this is the first trip you and your brother are taking in a while? What are you going to do for a whole~ weekend without your loving girlfriend to shower you with your daily kisses?" She laughed at his unamused expression._

 _She sighed and scratched her cheek with a pout. "Lighten up would you?"_

 _Sasuke rolled his eyes and hummed low under his breath. He really did need to calm down. "We'll probably just relax or something. Father has been hounding him to take over the company. As usual… And Itachi's not too happy about it. As usual."_

 _"I wouldn't think so," she said blinking. "Doesn't your father know that Itachi's... kinda... a-"_

 _"Shut up," he suddenly said, glaring at her. "Mind your own business." He ordered, knowing exactly where Sakura was going with this._

 _Sakura sighed defeated. "You aren't helping him, Sasuke."_

* * *

Sakura awoke the next morning with a killer headache and a serious case of irritation. _`Why do I keep having these dreams?'_

 **`Maybe seeing Sasuke so much is bringing back some memories you locked away after the break-up?'** Her mind conjured out of nowhere it seemed.

 _`Maybe... I can't believe it's already been ten years since...'_ Sakura immediately cut herself off from her train of thought at the sound of a knock on her door. "Come in!" She yelled, finally sitting up in her bed and throwing the covers off her legs when Ino walked in looking a little worse for wear.

The blonde yawned and started rubbing the back of her head tiredly and grumbling things under her breath.

Sakura laughed. Even with a hangover and just waking up, Ino still managed to look as beautiful as ever. "What's up pig, you don't look so good?" She tilted her head to the side and scooted over as Ino came to sit next to her. Her bed was quite small, being a twin and all. Ino didn't seem to care as she threw herself partly on the bed and the rest on Sakura's lap, snuggling into her stomach and groaning about the light being too bright.

Ino rubbed one of her eyes while the other was blinking rapidly trying to adjust herself. "Cure me~" She whined with another groan, burying herself further into Sakura's stomach. "God, I hate drinking. It makes me stupid."

"More stupid." Sakura corrected with a snicker.

"Shut up, Forehead." The blonde grouched looking up at her pink haired friend with narrowed, glassy, bloodshot eyes.

Sakura just shook her head with another laugh and got out of bed and went to her chest of drawers where she kept some special remedies from Suna that Tsunade had given her before she left. Sakura was shuffling around her things when she suddenly paused and looked up at Ino through the mirror that was placed against her wall behind her chest of drawers. "Ino, what's the date today?"

Ino narrowed her eyes in thought and opened her mouth. "I think it's September the 4th. Why?"

Sakura's heart dropped out of her chest. _`So that's why I had that dream...'_

"Sakura, hello, you still there?" Ino asked looking at her friend's back strangely.

Sakura shook her head and swallowed thickly. "Today's the anniversary of Itachi's death."

Ino blinked for a moment and then gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh my god... You're right. It'll be ten years today won't it?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah." Sakura nodded her head and pushed back her hair that fell into her face from the movement. "I get the feeling Sasuke's going to be extra pissed today."

"He probably still blames himself for what happened. He was always so... angry on this day." Ino muttered sadly.

Sakura didn't say anything and walked back over to her friend. She twisted the cap to the vile she had in her hand and placed it in Ino's hand. "Drink this, it'll come into effect in an hour, so rest up a little more and go eat some breakfast. I have to get ready for work."

Ino snorted and smoothed out her hair. "I see you didn't take after Tsunade-san when it came to holding your liquor." She stated looking up into her best friend's clear green eyes.

The rosette shrugged. "I still get headaches." Was all she said as she grabbed Ino's free wrist and yanked her up, she needed to make her bed? "Now go make breakfast. I want omurice." She ordered loudly.

"Not so loud~," Ino groaned covering her ears as she struggled to make her way to the door. As she went to turn the knob, she looked over her shoulder with a worried expression. "Maybe you should take the day off today... I get the feeling you, nor Sasuke is going to take the day really well, being as it is... You know."

Sakura paused in her work and turned to stare at Ino. "I'll be fine." She stated quickly.

"Sakura-"

"Ino, I'll be okay." She said sternly.

The blonde was about to protest again but held herself back, knowing that her friend knew what she was doing.

…

…

…

As Sakura walked into the hospital shifting her eyes around and uncomfortably pulling down her skirt. She was going to kill Ino for forcing her to wear these stupid things. Today she definitely wasn't dressed like how she was at her interview. Ino made sure of that. She refused to allow Sakura to walk out of the house without her hair done, along with her makeup and at least a nice shirt and a decent pair of shoes.

Why? She wasn't really sure, but she guessed her best friend who was a fashion maniac was tired of seeing her walk out of her house as a total fashion disaster. So what if she was walking out of the house with a loose button down and a pair of black slacks with an equally unattractive pair of flats on and her hair unkempt in an unsecured bun and a slice of toast hanging out of her mouth. At least she got her job done, and working in a hospital hardly gave one enough time to worry about one's appearance. She'd just be putting on her coat and some scrubs as soon as she got there anyway.

The rosette's heals clicked against the nicely tiled floor of the hospital hall, a familiar looking nurse looked up as she walked passed and looked utterly shocked. Sakura was definitely different today. Her hair was up in a perfected loose bun. Her bangs falling down over her eyes; a few strands fell to the sides, framing her face. Her eyes were perfectly lined with eyeliner and mascara, making her emerald eyes pop even more. Her lips had a thin sheen of gloss, and her cheeks were brushed delicately with a pale pink blush.

Sakura felt totally out of her element.

She sighed and tried not to look as self-conscious as she felt, passing by a group of young-looking doctors who barely even blinked as she walked passed. She could only shake her head at how idiotic she was being. They didn't even look at her. Which, actually, didn't make her feel all that good either.

"Sakura?" A deep voice said from behind her.

Sakura jumped at the call of her name and quickly turned around; she narrowed her eyes at the figure standing before her. He stood there for a few moments before he spoke. "When I heard from Naruto that you were here I had to see with my own eyes; even now I still can't put my head around it."

Sakura's mind went blank and then it hit her. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers. The Long brown hair. Pearl eyes. Only one particular family had those eyes, and purely one specific male knew her from that family. "Holy- Neji!"

No sooner did the confusion evaporate and Sakura threw herself at the unsuspecting brunette. "Wow, I'm running into everybody here!" She laughed at his uncomfortable expression and pulled back from him only enough to get a better look at him, not long before she was crushing him within her grasp again. He hugged her this time, awkwardly, but he was making an effort-for old time's sake.

Sakura giggled as she held tightly to his shoulders, her eyes alighted with mirth. "Wow, look at you. I never thought I would ever catch you in a suit, looking the same as ever. I see you never did cut your hair." She pulled at his long loose, silky strands of hair as he set her back down.

They pulled away from each other, and Neji had the decency to look flustered. "Are you trying to be funny." He looked dead serious. Sakura rolled her eyes. He sighed and pulled at his coat awkwardly. "This is really amazing... Seven years. You seemed to have gotten prettier." He said with a chuckle, picking up a strand of her own hair and twirling it around his finger before letting it drop.

Sakura smiled and looked down as she pulled her hair back in embarrassment, her eyes catching something shiny on his hand. Sakura's mouth dropped in surprise. "Neji, how dare you flirt with me when you're married- Wait! Is all my friends married now?" Was she seriously the only one single around here?

He chuckled again and rubbed his neck in a relaxed manner. "Yes, you know her, remember? Tenten." He said with a roll of his eyes and a cocky smile.

Sakura paused for only a second before her jaw dropped to the floor. It seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "No way? I knew Tenten got married, but I didn't know it was to you! You hit the jackpot with that one." She winked at him teasingly.

Neji grunted in embarrassment. "Yeah, we got together right after college. Hard to believe, huh? She used to be really difficult; I thought we would never get together because she was so stubborn. Kind of like how you were." He raised a brow at her pointedly.

Sakura raised her hand in a sheepish manner. "Sorry." It was amazing how much had changed since she'd been gone, both Naruto and Neji had changed so much. Naruto was more mature now; Neji had toned down tremendously from the pompous teenager he once was. She looked up after a moment of thought. "Did you guys have any children?"

A look crossed his face and he sighed and shook his head while stuffing his hands in his pockets. "We tried once, but Tenten lost the baby, after that she went to go get a checkup and the doctor said her body just wasn't strong enough to carry children to full term."

"Oh," Sakura said swallowing hard, feeling sad. She had missed so much; she could only imagine how Tenten must have felt after hearing something like that. She knew she'd be seeing a lot of people that she used to be really close with, but she didn't think it would hurt to see how much she had missed. "I'm really sorry Neji. I know you can only use that word so much, but-"

Neji's eyes softened and he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Thanks Sakura. It's okay, we're doing fine now. We've missed you." He told her honestly.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, same here. It's really good to see you again. I'm glad you were there for Tenten when she needed you the most."

Neji smirked and nodded. "What kind of husband would I be if that weren't the case?"

Sakura scoffed. "A bad one." She laughed then.

Neji shook his head. "Yeah, I know. So, where are you living now?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.

Sakura hummed. "I moved back in with Ino. At least until I get more stable in my career. She still kept my room and I didn't really feel like moving back in with my parents." She shrugged.

Neji nodded, his face turning grim. "Yeah. I'm going to ask you something, and don't take it the wrong way, okay? I'm happy you're here, but why are you _here_? Working at this hospital, I mean? Do you really want to put yourself through this?"

Sakura sighed and turned her head away. Her eyes narrowing. She felt really hurt all of a sudden.

"Hey," Neji said, immediately patting her head like she was a child. "There's just some things that we- as your friends, don't want you to have to go through. You're a strong girl, but even you have a weakness and you suck at hiding your emotions."

Sakura sighed and rubbed her face with a dry laugh. "I know." She said feeling exhausted all of a sudden.

Neji looked at the wall and sighed while stuffing his hands into his pockets. "You know what today is right?" He asked suddenly.

Sakura nodded and lifted her eyes up to meet Neji's pearly ones. "I know." She looked down at her feet and exhaled loudly. She really didn't want to talk about _that._ "But I'm still finding it hard to believe that you, Sasuke and Naruto went into a partnership together." She said, scuffing his shoulder affectionately, deciding to change the subject quickly. There were just some things she couldn't talk about.

Neji smiled but it still looked rather grim, but he went no further on the subject. Sakura was very grateful for that. Neji was always a very observant man. "So, I'm guessing Naruto told you I was working as Sasuke's apprentice?"

"Yeah, he told Tenten and I over dinner last night." Neji said looking surprised. "That's something I definitely wasn't expecting." He said, sounding a lot calmer than how Naruto reacted. Well, the two were very different people. "He's been looking for a new apprentice for a while now; I'm shocked Tsunade let you go so easily."

Sakura shrugged. "Tsunade thought it best; I was stuck on figuring out what I wanted to do and where I wanted to stay permanently. I loved working for Tsunade but we both knew it was about time I broke away from the small city and go someplace I would benefit more from. Suna doesn't really have the best hospital, which is why Tsunade is there, so she can help with whatever needs to be adjusted. However, she's already set in her career, unlike me."

Neji nodded in understanding. "Yes, I heard something like that from Temari a few days ago. She said that I was going to be getting the biggest shock of the century... She wasn't kidding."

"Yeah," She said, then glanced down at her watch. "Oh crap, I have to be getting to Sasuke's office!"

Neji smirked. "Good, I have to head there myself, you can fill me in on all that's been going on in your life."

Sakura smiled and nodded.

* * *

Sasuke was filing more paperwork when Neji marched through the door, a nervous Sakura running behind him, pulling at her skirt as they walked in.

Sasuke arched a brow at the brunette and then looked down at his watch wondering if he forgot to give the Hyuuga his paperwork again. He looked back up and glared, really not in the mood to listen to Neji's pompous lectures. "What are you doing here Hyuuga? There aren't any meetings today?"

The brunette just shrugged, looking as smug as ever, not taking offense to Sasuke's harsh treatment. It was only because of this particular day anyway. He sat himself comfortably down in the chair opposite of Sasuke without permission. "Nothing, just thought I'd stop by to see if you were slacking off on the paperwork again. Plus, Tenten had an appointment today."

"Ah." Was his short reply, his eyes narrowing slightly at the action of the Hyuuga, but went back to doing his godforsaken paperwork. He took a glance back at Sakura who had set her bag down and slipped on her coat and started to pick up the few loose papers on her desk and stack the pile of folders neatly. A nurse had just brought those in earlier for Sakura to fill out, but didn't do a good job in setting them down.

He scowled a little, all of a sudden feeling very annoyed. "Get lost, Hyuuga." He hissed looking back down at his paperwork. "I don't have time for you today."

Sakura flinched slightly at how angry Sasuke sounded, but tried to ignore him as much as she could with being in the same room.

Neji didn't pay no mind to his friend but stood anyway. "I should be leaving anyway. Tenten's appointment should be finished with by now." He said, heading towards the door.

Sakura turned quickly to Neji. "Tell Tenten I said hello and tell her I'm sorry I wasn't able to catch up with her today. It was great seeing you again!"

The brunette nodded and gave her a short wave. "You too, Haruno."

Sasuke watched the exchange with an unreadable expression. So, Tenten and Neji knew Sakura also? He shook his head and rubbed his temples, annoyance seemed to fill his every pore and it was directed sorely at Sakura. He couldn't understand why, but this day always did make him crazy. "You're late." He said a lot harsher than he intended it to be.

The rosette's head shot in his direction, her hair smacking her face with how fast she had turned to face him. She immediately bowed low and apologized. "Forgive me Uchiha-san, I ran into an acquaintance I hadn't seen in many years." She said respectively.

The Uchiha studied her with a guarded expression. "Don't try to make excuses and just get to work. I want those files reported and on my desk in less than an hour." He ordered, going back to his own paperwork.

Sakura gaped in surprise, turning to look at the huge stack of folders. There had to at least be about thirty or so there. "A-An hour?" Besides, she had rounds to make today. She didn't have time to file _his_ paperwork.

Sasuke glanced up through narrowed eyes. "Is that a problem?"

"That's too short of time and I-" She tried to say, feeling herself getting flustered out of frustration.

"The more time you take in complaining is more valuable time wasted in filing those reports. So just shut up and do what you're told." He snapped.

The rosette could only gape.

 _ **`Why that no good for nothing jerk! What kind of a professional tells their employees to shut up?! He's lucky he doesn't know me or I'd be kicking him all the way back to his stupid witch of a mother!'**_ Inner-Sakura shouted angrily.

Sakura bit her lip to keep her thoughts from coming out in the open and turned sharply to her desk. She tried to tell herself that this was only because of what day it was. She could understand; it made her feel off too. However, she wasn't really used to Sasuke looking and being so angry with her. She could already tell the day was going to be long and exhausting. She was beginning to reconsider her sanity at this moment. She sighed as she reached for the first folder and felt her mood completely drop. Meeting Neji was great, but she could always expect Sasuke to be there to get under her skin.

…

…

…

"Sakura-san," Sasuke said as he finally took notice of the rosette.

Sakura grimaced and shuffled closer to his desk. "Yes, Uchiha-san?"

Sasuke piled a few folders together and then handed them over to Sakura. "Take these to the fifth floor and take them to a man named Kakashi. If you have trouble, just ask one of the nurses at the desk, they'll direct you to his office." He ordered not giving her a second glance.

Sakura's frown deepened, but she held back her words and nodded her head and walked out of the office towards the elevators across the hall. She sighed loudly as she pressed the down button to the elevator and waited rather impatiently for them to arrive. Why did it seem like time was going slower today?She blinked as the sound of a loud `ding' broke her out of her stupor and she walked inside and pressed the button to the fifth floor. There was a shift along with a jolt as the elevator lowered down, considering they were on the sixth floor it really didn't take that long to get to the directed floor. She noted she had been lost in her thoughts for too long and shuffled quickly out the elevator doors before they closed on her and she looked around the unfamiliar halls. She walked towards the nurse's station and asked for Kakashi's office.

She wondered if the Kakashi Sasuke was talking about was the same Kakashi she knew. Really, she wouldn't be surprised if it was. It seemed like everyone she knew was somehow affiliated with this hospital one way or another. It was actually beginning to be quite ridiculous.

She thanked the nurse when she got the directions, and then made her way quickly to a door that was on the far right end of the hall. The door didn't have much indication of it being an office, she'd probably never would have found it if she hadn't asked. Taking a breath, she knocked lightly on the door and then pushed it open slightly. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw who the owner of the office was.

She knew it!

"Kakashi-sensei!" She said in excitement, the day's exhaustion immediately falling away at the sight of the man before her.

"Well, well, well if it isn't Haruno Sakura, back from Suna I see." He said, raising himself from his desk and opening his arms wide.

It didn't take any more encouragement than that. Sakura was in the elder man's arms in a flash, hugging him tight around his middle. "Wow, I don't believe it! You haven't changed a bit." She smiled looking up into his equally pleased expression, brushing the back of her fingers over his mask. "Still keeping up that mysterious facade, huh?"

Kakashi's eye narrowed in mirth. "You know me too well, Sakura." He held her by her shoulders and looked her over. "You certainly have changed from the hyper eighteen-year-old to a beautiful woman in her twenties. Now I feel really old." He chuckled while clutching his chest dramatically.

Sakura smiled and held on to his arms. "That's not true, you can't tell you're old by the mask. You still look the same as you did in high school. Do you work here now?" She asked curiously, handing him the folders that Sasuke ordered her to give.

Kakashi nodded. "Yep, not as a doctor though. I look over the other crap that comes with owning and managing a hospital for those two knuckleheads; I'm Sasuke and Naruto's second in command as you would say. I keep an eye on the inner parts of the business along with Neji." You could see the smile even from under the mask.

Sakura's eyes twinkled. "You make it sound like your part of the mob."

"Maybe I am." The silver haired man said mysteriously, his eyes closing in humor.

They both laughed. Sakura forgot how good it was to be with her old friends. Until now she never realized how much she missed them.

"I'm guessing you don't have enough time to visit over a cup of coffee?" Kakashi asked as he leaned casually against his desk.

Sakura shook her head and finally remembered why she was there in the first place. "Nope, sorry, my boss just wanted me to hand you those." She told him with a sigh, pointing at the folders.

Kakashi's brow rose generously. "You're working in the hospital now? I thought you were studying under Tsunade in Suna?"

Sakura nodded. "I was, now I'm working here for a little while as an understudy. Tsunade thought it would be best for me to branch out before I decided to settle down in Suna."

The elder man nodded in understanding. "I see... So how are you liking it here so far? Konoha hasn't been the same without it's cherry blossom." You could just see the smirk behind the mask. "I know Genma has missed you dearly." He patted his chest in mock sympathy.

The rosette blanched. "That old perv. He never changed I see. He does realize if he couldn't get me back then, he most certainly can't get me now." She shook her head and let out a snort at the mere thought of going out with Shiranui Genma. Though he had been pretty attractive back then.

Kakashi just shrugged. "Uh, I don't know if you've noticed, maybe you have but... About Sasuke –"

"It's okay, Kakashi. Naruto told me everything." She reassured.

The man nodded. "You're okay with this?"

Sakura shrugged and tilted her head to the side. "It doesn't really matter how I feel about it. Sasuke and I have been apart for a long time. This is probably a chance for us to start over as becoming friends. We parted on bad terms. Now we can be friends without there being that big elephant between us." She said with a sad smile.

Kakashi released a breath. "You have really changed Sakura."

"For the better, I hope." She smiled while sticking her tongue out between her teeth.

He laughed and nodded. "Most definitely."

Sakura grinned and then her eyes suddenly caught sight of the clock. "Oh my gosh! So much time has gone by. I have to go! It was good seeing you again Kakashi! Tell Genma and everyone that we'll have to get together like old times and have a drink." She waved in farewell and then rushed out of his office.

Kakashi watched her leave and just stood there, even after ten minutes had passed since she'd left. He had missed the bubbly rosette over the years, and it had been good to see her again. He just wished she didn't have to live with the fact that the Sasuke she once knew was no more, and that her first love couldn't even remember her. Now she had to work with him as her boss. "That girl is really foolish." He said as he looked out the window, his favorite book left hanging limply at his side.

Sakura groaned as she sat down at an empty lunch table in the cafeteria. Today had been gruesome. Sasuke had worked her like a dog and was still treating her like dirt. He was definitely a force to be reckoned with when he was angry. She never realized it before because she had never been on the receiving end. She had been working non-stop since she had returned to his office, he had definitely made her make up for the lost time she had spent talking with Kakashi. "Jerk, doesn't even cut me some slack as a newbie." She muttered under her breath as she forcefully chewed her rice.

But her anger immediately subsided when she thought about the cause for his short temper. She set her chopsticks down; the sight of food no longer making her hungry, but made her feel rather nauseous. She wished she could go back in time, to where it was a whole lot easier comforting Sasuke.

* * *

 _`Sasuke, are you here? Your dad let me in..." Sakura said quietly as she opened her boyfriend's bedroom door. She peaked her head in and squinted her eyes to try and see through the dark. She frowned, feeling rather depressed. "Sasuke-kun?" She listened for something that indicated he was in the room._

 _There was a shift and then a sigh. "What do you want, Sakura?"_

 _Sakura slowly made her way in and closed the door as softly as possible and then she tiptoed her way to the bed, feeling around in the dark for something to grab on to so she didn't fall flat on her face. "Why is it so dark in here?" She muttered low under her breath._

" _Go away." Sasuke groaned._

 _Sakura ignored him and continued on in her trek and almost did a happy dance when she felt the soft cushion of the bed. It didn't take her long to be snuggled up to Sasuke's blanket covered back. She wrapped her arm around his waist and searched around for his head. "You're making yourself miserable babe."_

" _Hn." He grunted._

 _Sakura sighed and moved the hand that was around his waist to his head so she could play with his hair. "Talk to me." She whispered helplessly._

" _I don't feel like talking," he said turning over to face her._

 _Sakura shifted closer until she was mere inches from his face. "Okay, we don't have to talk." She said sadly, wrapping her hand around his neck and pulling him forward to give him a soft kiss._

" _... Thank you, Sakura." He muttered, returning the kiss with one of his own._

 _Sakura shrugged and thumbed his cheek slowly. "You feel like you have a fever."_

" _Or it could be because I've been stuffed under the comforter all day." He stated, not doing anything to better that fact. He just placed his head under her chin and pulled her further into himself._

 _The rosette only rolled her eyes. "What can I do for you?" She asked him, pulling him close and reveling in the feel of being in his arms._

" _You don't have to do anything." He told her tiredly._

 _Sakura frowned. "I feel like I have to..." She said feeling terrible. What kind of girlfriend was she to not be able to comfort her grieving boyfriend?_

" _Well, stop feeling that way. I don't need your pity." He snapped._

 _Sakura flinched and pulled back a little. Sasuke sighed and apologized. "Look, you don't have to do anything. Itachi's dead and all I can do is sit here and do nothing. If I can't do anything than neither can you." He sighed once more. He'll probably spend the rest of his days sighing._

 _Sakura swallowed and rubbed his face again. "I know. There's nothing I can say to change how you're feeling, but Itachi wouldn't want you sitting here, wasting away. He'd want you to continue forward. Sasuke, it's not your fault." She reassured, pulling him close to kiss him._

 _Sasuke couldn't say anything, only return the kiss, if only to keep his mind off of everything that was going on in his life._

* * *

Sakura shook herself out of her thoughts and sighed. Back then she wasn't much help either, but Sasuke had felt a lot better the next day. He had gotten out of his room and into some sunshine. It took him a while to start being his old self again but that day had made their relationship stronger. What had happened to Itachi was really a tragedy, and Sasuke had taken it harder than anyone. He had blamed himself for months until he and Naruto had gotten into a huge fight about it and then Sasuke seemed fine right after.

She shook her head. She never did find out what was said back then, boys were so confusing, and Sasuke and Naruto always kept her out of the loop when it came to the important things that happened between them.

...

...

...

When Sakura walked through the door to Sasuke's office, she was definitely surprised by a body running straight into her legs, her knees immediately buckled right from under her. So she, plus the little person that still had a hold of her legs, went crashing to the floor in an uncomfortable heap. She had made sure during the fall to land in an angle where she wouldn't crush the child. At least she presumed it to be a child.

"Satsuki, what have I said about running around in my office?"

She heard Sasuke shout as the little person giggled and wiggled his little body into a sitting position on her stomach. "Not to?" Was the soft reply.

Sakura could on stare as a pair of deep expression filled eyes beamed down at her. A tiny, delighted giggle bubbled forth from the tiny person who was now staring at her just as much as she was. She couldn't help but gawk at the much younger version of Sasuke, probably the only thing that separated them from being exact copies, was the open smile and childish innocence marring the boys features. She probably looked ridiculous, lying flat on the ground with her hair all over the place and a five year old making himself comfortable, though, it didn't take long for Sasuke to immediately yank his child off of her person and hold him against his hip as he used his other hand to help her up.

She gratefully took it and allowed herself to be pulled up.

She held in a gape as she noticed Sasuke's previously sour mood was now replaced with something akin to calm and peace. She glanced back over to Satsuki and knew for certain his change in demeanor was because of the little boy.

Satsuki was still giggling as he wrapped his arms around his father and stared at her with dark, bright eyes.

Sakura couldn't help to smile back at the adorable kid. He was just too cute. She wanted to squeeze him.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Sakura's enchanted expression.

Satsuki's eyes lighted in wonder as he stared at the unfamiliar woman before him. "What's your name? I've never seen you around here before? Are you my Papa's girlfriend? Why is your hair pink?" He asked continuously not missing a beat, blinking at her with his big eyes.

Sakura blushed and spluttered a negative at the girlfriend part.

"Satsuki!" Sasuke said with narrowed eyes. His son could be so blunt sometimes. "Don't be rude."

Satsuki pouted slightly. "Sorry." He jutted out his bottom lip and clasped his tiny hands together, his big round eyes staring at her innocently.

Sakura was definitely besotted.

Sasuke could see right through his son's act. This kid could be a little devil when he wanted to be. Man, did he have some power. He can just see his son sprouting horns and a tail in the coming future. Sasuke had been through this type of thing from Satsuki and the boy usually did it to get what he wanted. He didn't know what, but he knew Satsuki was up to something.

"Ahem." Sasuke coughed, receiving an immediate glare from Satsuki. Sasuke arched a brow. Hmm, seemed like the demon was growing fond of Sakura already. Not a surprise, everyone liked Sakura.

Sakura blushed and smiled while shaking her head, she held out her hand to the child and smiled when he took it. "My name is Sakura. I just started working as your papa's assistant. No, I'm not his girlfriend."

Satsuki nodded in understanding. At least, that's what it looked like he was doing. Then he said, "You have weird hair."

Sakura laughed, and tried to cover it up when she saw Sasuke slap a hand over his face from his son's straightforward comment. "Yeah, I do. Pink's not really your average, everyday hair color is it?" She pulled at a strand and stuck her tongue out.

Satsuki nodded. "It's pretty though." He told her reaching out suddenly towards her.

Sasuke blinked as Satsuki turned to glare at him over his shoulder. Obviously that meant _"let me go, old man!"_ Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Sakura-san I think Satsuki is rather taken of you and he wants to know if you'll hold him. Be warned though, he's a little fat. We use words Satsuki; you can't rely on me to do everything for you."

Sasuke ignored the pointed death glare shot in his direction as Sakura relieved him of his evil spawn.

"Of course I will." She said warmly, trying real hard not to squeal at how squeezable this kid was as she held him against her hip. She noticed the exchange between the father and son and realized that Satsuki was the exact opposite of Sasuke. She could see how wickedly spoiled Satsuki was and he knew he was cute too, and he was definitely taking advantage of that fact. She shook her head; this kid was a genius.

Sasuke sighed and made his way back to his desk. Satsuki didn't pay him no mind as he continued to observe Sakura with curious eyes. "You look a lot like that girl in Uncle Naruto's pictures in the photo album." He said offhandedly.

Sakura smiled and ruffled Satsuki's head. "Yep, your Uncle and I have known each other for a long time." She told him as she followed Sasuke, sitting in the chair facing his desk. Satsuki made a permanent placement on her lap and leaned back into her arm comfortably.

Satsuki smiled. "Does that mean you know my papa too?" He looked excited at this.

Sakura paused slightly and looked over at Sasuke, she wished she could say the truth but now was not the time or place. So, taking a deep breath she shook her head. "Not really well, your father and I weren't real close as children." She smiled down at the kid.

Sasuke looked over at her with an odd expression, but she wasn't paying attention to see it. That definitely wasn't what he heard from Naruto. So, why was she lying?

"Really?" Satsuki asked curiously, and then he turned back to glance at his father. "Well, actually, that's pretty understandable." He nodded his head thoughtfully.

Sasuke coughed and narrowed his eyes at his son. "Satsuki, you would say something like that, wouldn't you?" Evil.

Sasuke's son smiled brightly and shrugged innocently. With a twinkling laugh Satsuki jumped off of Sakura's lap and turned and barreled towards his father with his arms spread wide at his sides as he ran. "I was just joking papa~!" He stopped short at his father's side and looked up as if waiting for something.

Sakura watched as father and son interacted with each other.

Sasuke's cheek was resting on his palm, with his elbow balanced on the desk, his other hand poised with a pen as he felt his son tug at his jacket sleeve. His eyes slowly shifted to the boy in mild interest. "Yes?"

Satsuki pouted and held his arms out.

Sasuke pulled a blank face. "Aren't you a little old to be sitting in my lap?" He asked pointedly.

"Hey, you're just old in general and you don't see me complaining." Satsuki grumbled as he took to climbing on to his father's lap on his own. The little boy just smiled up at his father when he "accidentally" elbowed him in the gut so to keep his balance. Sasuke grunted and narrowed his eyes at Satsuki. He only received another one of those conniving smiles.

"I let you get away with too much." Sasuke shook his head at his son and then shifted his eyes towards the pink haired figure sitting across from him. "Sakura-san, are you alright?"

Sakura's eyes looked distant as she sat there, her face blank of all emotion.

* * *

" _No."_

" _Please?"_

" _No."_

" _Please, Sasuke-kun~?"_

" _Hn, let me think about it."_

" _Really?!"_

" _No."_

" _Gah, Uchiha, you are so frustrating!" Sakura pouted as she sat down on the grass across from her boyfriend who was reading a book under a huge oak tree. She picked at the grass and threw the loose strands and dirt in his general direction._

 _Sasuke barely graced her with a glance before he turned back to the book, situated his glasses and turned the page. "You get me dirty, you're paying for the dry-cleaning." He told her with a bored voice._

 _Sakura's eyes narrowed and she puffed out her cheeks. "Hey, you're the one that's sitting on the ground anyway!"_

 _Sasuke sighed and pushed the hair out of his eyes. "Why do you want to go so bad?"_

 _Sakura wrapped her arms around her knees. "Because we never do anything anymore, this is the first weekend we've been able to spend together in two weeks."_

 _Sasuke tilted his head and closed his book. "I told you my parents have been on my case about the business. I can't ignore this right now. Ever since Itac-" Sasuke cut himself off and looked away._

 _Feeling bad, Sakura crawled over to the young Uchiha and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a soft kiss. "I'm sorry. I understand. You don't have to explain anymore." She buried her nose into his hair and held him tight._

 _Sasuke just sat there with his arms wrapped loosely around her waist. "Don't apologize. This is like the hundredth time this week."_

" _What else am I supposed to do. I feel so helpless right now; I don't know what to do for you." She said, pulling back to look him in the eye. "I just thought getting you out of the city would be good for you. We haven't been to the beach since last Summer."_

 _Sasuke inhaled and exhaled deeply through his nose as he leaned his forehead against Sakura's. "Thank you; you're always trying to look after me."_

 _Sakura smiled and shrugged sheepishly. "It's what I do."_

 _The Uchiha pulled back and looked at his watch. "Well, we better get moving if you want to get there while it's still light out." He said standing, shaking the grass off the back of his pants._

 _Sakura immediately stood with a smile. "Really? We're going to the beach?!"_

 _Sasuke nodded his head with a small smirk as he looked at her. "Yeah."_

 _Sakura threw up her arms and let out a loud "Whoop!" Before jumping into Sasuke's arms, her legs wrapped tight around his waist as he tried to steady them._

" _You're so spoilt. I really let you get away with too much…" He muttered as she continued to hold on to his neck._

* * *

"Papa, I think she's lost it." Satsuki blurted out suddenly.

"Satsuki!"

Sakura blinked rapidly as she was brought out of her thoughts.

 _ **`Oh god, I think I'm going to be sick.'**_ Her inner groaned helplessly.

Sakura's heart was pounding as the emotions started to build up. She looked up and noticed Satsuki staring at her curiously and Sasuke's unreadable expression. She was taking sharp breaths as she was coming up with an excuse as to why she had to leave. The last thing the father and son heard was her frantic bye as she practically ran out of the office.

Sakura's heels clacked in a rapid beat as she ran down the many hallways looking for somewhere, anywhere for her to just be alone and in peace. She felt as if she was about ready to crack. Her hand ran shakily through her hair and over her face. Her nerves were officially shot. What was wrong with her? Why in the world did that memory pop up like that?

She was turning a corner when she ran into something solid and was about to fall back when arms reached out and grabbed her.

"Sakura?"

Sakura opened her eyes and blinked as they slowly focused in on Kakashi's mask covered face. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"Eh~ what did I tell you about that? I'm not- Oof!"

Sakura's head buried into her old teacher's chest as her shoulders started to shake.

Her body shook as she sobbed dryly in Kakashi's shoulder. The tears refused to come, but she couldn't help but continue to wail futilely as the grey haired male ran his hand up and down her back and patted her head comfortingly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head in the negative as her arms tightened around his waist.

He pulled her arm as he walked forward, dragging her along with him. She reluctantly followed behind him with her head down, feeling ashamed. She knew she was going to have to explain everything to Kakashi before the day was up, but she wasn't sure she was necessarily ready for something like that. She sighed and let her mind wander to other things that could possibly distract her. She was so pathetic it wasn't even funny. She couldn't even cry properly.

She gave a sideways glance to Kakashi and saw that he wasn't really paying much attention. His ever famous orange book nestled comfortably in his hand as his one eye stayed trained on the pages. "So," he said casually, turning the page. "Are you going to talk to me or am I going to have to go to Sasuke about it?"

Sakura froze.

Kakashi's eye crinkled. "So I hit the hammer on the nail. Go me."

The rosette looked down nervously and pushed a strand of hair back. "What do you want me to say? It wasn't like he directly said something to me or anything. He doesn't know who I am, remember?"

Kakashi hummed with a nod. "So what did happen?"

"Do I really have to talk about it?" She asked, not really wanting to have this kind of conversation.

"Well, yes, if you're freaking out so bad you barely know which direction your turning in, then I'd say it'd be a good idea to talk about it. This is me Sakura, I'm not going to say anything to anyone." He told her reassuringly.

She shook her head. "That's not what I'm worried about, but I'll tell you." She smiled at him and took his arm. "But let's get out of here first. There's this little cafe I've been wanting to go to." She told him, dragging him behind her.

Kakashi sighed and shook his head, wondering how it was so easy for girls to change their moods. "Fine, but you're buying."

Sakura laughed and turned to look over her shoulder. "Don't I always you cheapskate?"

* * *

 **A/N: I'm so sorry everyone for the late update. I've been trying to edit out everything perfectly before I post it, and even though this isn't much of an important chapter, there was a lot of definite kinks that needed to be adjusted. I promise I won't take as long again. Please review and tell me what you think. And thank you so much for all your support and love. You guys are the best!**


	5. Chapter 4 The Feeling of

**My New Boss**

 **Chapter. 4**

* * *

"So you basically freaked out at seeing Satsuki and Sasuke together?" Kakashi asked, running his finger along the rim of his half empty coffee mug. "Not surprising, I'd be more surprised if you could actually look at them without feeling anything at all."

Sakura sighed and rested a hand against her palm, swirling the whipped cream in her coffee, depressed. "Am I really so obvious in my emotions that you could possibly think that? It wasn't just them, you know that. Itachi too, he played a major role in mine and Sasuke's relationship. He's the one that got us together in the first place; he was like a brother to me. It's always been hard on this day... Whenever we had his anniversary; Sasuke and I'd spend the whole day together doing whatever we could to keep ourselves busy. And now that I'm here and near Sasuke, on this day... He doesn't even know who I am and it's just hard. Plus, add Satsuki to the mix, it's like kicking dirt in my face or something." She said with a sad smile. "I never imagined things being so complicated."

Kakashi nodded. "Understandable. Sasuke's always had trouble on this day too. However, he's had to live through Itachi's death twice." The older male stated seriously.

Sakura blinked and stared at Kakashi before it all hit her. "Oh…" Was all she could mutter as she bit her lip. She could only imagine how devastated Sasuke must have been to go through all that again.

"Yep, hit him much harder than it had the first time. I suppose that's because you weren't there for him to lean on." He commented thoughtfully.

The rosette rolled her eyes. "I doubt that. Like I said, Satsuki is there for him. He looked totally at peace; the day's stresses completely washing away from him."

"Don't underestimate yourself Sakura. Sasuke may not remember you now, but back then you were the main fixture in his life and he counted on you to always be there. And you had been; he didn't mourn as hard for Itachi the first time because he had you there for him. When his memories of Itachi's death came back. It really hit him hard, the grief and guilt was far worse than it had been. He's suffered a lot from the accident."

"I know," Sakura said, taking a sip of her coffee. "He has been through a lot. I can only imagine what it must feel like to lose the woman you love in such a tragic way and then to lose your brother all over again."

Kakashi stared at Sakura for a moment. "By woman, you mean Karin?"

Sakura blinked. "Uh, yeah, is that her name? Sasuke's wife."

"Hmmm," Kakashi hummed, leaning back into his seat and throwing his arm over the back of the empty chair next to him and tapped his fingers against the table with the other. "I see Naruto didn't tell you the whole story." He whispered.

Sakura puffed out her cheeks in confusion. "What did you say?" She asked, scowling because she wasn't able to hear.

Kakashi shook his head. "Nothing, I was just reminding myself to get the next issue of Icha Icha on my way home."

Sakura blanched and threw her half eaten cookie at him. "That trashy series is still going?" She asked, trying not to laugh at his offended face as he picked cookie crumbs out of his hair.

"Icha Icha is not trashy, it is a classy novel that someone at your..." He paused to look her up and down. "Brain capacity could not understand."

Now it was Sakura's turn to look offended. "Hey, I graduated top of my class thank you!"

Kakashi chuckled and shook his head as he tapped the side of his temple. "Not "that" type of brain capacity sweetheart, I meant-" He leered at her playfully.

Sakura's whole face turned red as she slammed her hands into her face. "Oh my god! Shut up you pervert! Not everyone can be as ecchi as you!"

Kakashi snorted. "What a virgin."

Sakura ground her teeth. "Act your age!" She shouted with a bright blush.

Kakashi crinkled his lone eye in amusement. Sakura was just so easy to tease- it was hilarious. "Good to see you're finally starting to feel better."

The rosette blushed in embarrassment from her earlier outburst. "I can't believe I did that. I'm so sorry Kakashi-sensei." She apologized meekly.

"Stop calling me that," Kakashi barked running a hand through his hair. "You make me sound old enough as it is!"

Sakura giggled at his frustrated expression. "Consider it payback for calling me a virgin."

"I was only stating the truth." Kakashi mumbled with a sniff.

Sakura reached over to smack his shoulder in anger. "Stop saying that out loud, you'll ruin any chance of me ever getting a boyfriend here!"

"What, you're looking for perspective boyfriends in a cheap coffee shop?" He asked with a hand on his chin thoughtfully. "I see your taste has changed drastically." He said looking around the sparse building with boredom.

"Oh, put a sock in it." She rolled her eyes and laughed at his mock hurt expression. "So," she started, lacing her fingers together. "Have you been dating any?"

Kakashi hummed. "A little, you know me; I'm always going to be a bachelor." He shrugged.

Sakura huffed and slumped back into her seat. "Kakashi, I think it's about time you start thinking about finding someone and getting married," she gave him a once over. "You aren't getting any younger."

Feeling rather insulted, Kakashi pointed a finger back at her. "Neither are you."

Sakura gaped. "Hey, at least I'm still in my twenties!"

"I'm only 31!" He snapped.

Both paused and then they started laughing. "Ah, I missed having arguments with you. I remember when Sasuke and Naruto gave you so much trouble in high school. You barely ever taught us anything educational but you sure could give us a good lesson on life."

Kakashi went back to reading his book and flipped back to his page. "That's the only thing worth learning in this world anyway. It's not like you use anything else they teach you. Besides I was a Student Teacher, what else could I teach you, other than things about life? It's not like you'd listen to someone so close to your age about anything else."

"True," Sakura couldn't help but agree. "Hey, hey, whatever happened to Kurenai. You seemed to have a pretty big crush on her back then." Sakura sat forward feeling all giddy.

The silver haired male paused. "She moved to the countryside." He said without moving his eyes from his book.

The rosette pouted. "Aw, why? I thought you two for sure hit it off."

"She got married to Asuma a couple years ago, but he died a few months later, leaving her with a baby. She moved to the country to be closer to her mother before she would give birth. I think her baby's probably about three or something." He shrugged.

"Wow," Sakura breathed. "Where does the time go?" She mused, leaning against her hand as she looked out the window. "Hey," she said after a moments pause.

"Hm?"

"What was Sasuke's wife like?" She had to know. She had to know if she had been good to Sasuke at least.

Kakashi paused at a sentence and contemplated his answer. He didn't really know if it was his place in talking about Karin. Sakura was an old friend and someone he was rather close to however. "She was… How do you put it?" He trailed off tapping his chin. "She was rather eccentric; I guess you would say?"

Sakura crinkled her nose. "Way to go in clearing everything up." She said sarcastically.

"What," he shrugged. "She came from Sound, Sasuke's father knew her father and, well," he scratched the back of his head. "After you and Sasuke broke up, they arranged for the two to meet and I guess they hit it off. I mean they got married and had a kid. Sasuke never really showed much expression or indicated anything really. At the time he was more focused on the company than anything. It was hard to tell how he really felt, but she seemed content enough." Kakashi looked around, feeling uncomfortable with the question all together.

Sakura noticed and sipped at her coffee, wondering exactly what he was hiding from her, but she decided to let it go for now, so she changed the subject. "Satsuki sure is something."

"Tell me about it. The kid's worse than Naruto and that's saying something." Kakashi chuckled stretching out his arms and sighing when his back cracked. "That kid wears me out!"

"He seems nice enough." Sakura laughed and nodded. "He does seem like quite a handful though, also has Sasuke wrapped around his finger."

Kakashi scoffed. "Understatement of the century."

"He looks exactly like Sasuke. The only difference is the hair. It's flatter, more like how Itachi's was when he was younger." She stated with a soft voice.

"Yeah, I noticed that too. I'm sorry you had to come back home in this type of situation. What would you have done if Sasuke hadn't lost his memories and you were still working for him?"

Sakura tilted her head as she looked out the window. "That's a good question," she smiled a small smile, her eyes never straying from the window. "I had never thought that far ahead. I was just so excited to come back home. It had been seven years since I'd seen Sasuke, and to me the time away was enough and I felt there was no need for holding grudges. I'm not that type of person to hold on to something like that."

Kakashi watched her carefully as she talked, feeling a strange sort of emptiness at missing how much the girl had changed over the years. She'd matured so much, and it made him feel as if he missed out on just too much of her life. He had grown close to all of the kids in his last year of teaching. There were only few years between them in age so it wasn't unusual for them to become friends as soon as they graduated.

"Sasuke and I ended badly, but I feel that I had been living in a fantasy in our last few months together..." She said softly, her face going blank as she started to get lost in her own thoughts. "Sasuke had been acting different and Mikoto-san had started to harass me a lot more than she had before. Every waking moment of my day was avoiding phone calls from Sasuke's mother." She curled into herself, wrapping her arms around her middle as she stared down at the tabletop. "I hardly ever saw him and when I had all we ever did was fight over one thing or the other. We were miserable. Just too stubborn to admit it."

She laughed bitterly. "To this day I never understood why that woman hated me so much." She bit her lip and clenched her fists in frustration, the strong emotions welling up in her. "I was _so_ angry. All the time. There was nothing I could do but sit there and take her abuse."

"Mikoto-san did always take things a little too far." Kakashi said. "Plus, after Itachi died I believe the stress and grief became too much, and Sasuke was beginning to rebel because his father wanted him to start training in running the company. I think she blamed you for always being able to make him be himself while on the other hand all she could do was make him angry."

Sakura nodded in agreement. "Whatever happened to Uchiha-Corp? Sasuke's running a hospital with Neji and Naruto; I didn't know the company ran hospitals also."

"They don't." Kakashi stated with a mysterious smile. "After Sasuke got most of his memories back; he told Fugaku-san and Mikoto-san that he wanted nothing to do with the business. He blamed Fugaku and the company on why Itachi turned out the way he did. Of course, Fugaku-san wasn't happy about that. I don't know much of what happened, Naruto only told me the need-to-know and had said that there was a big fight and Sasuke had gotten kicked out and then he was disowned."

Sakura covered her mouth, unable to hide her shock. "Oh my god."

Kakashi nodded. "That's just the beginning. They took in one of Sasuke's cousins as the new successor of the company. About a month later after everything happened it was in the reports that the Uchiha's had excepted a new heir for Uchiha-Corp and guess who was on the front page."

Sakura gaped. "No way... Sai?"

"Yep," Kakashi nodded. "The kid had totally turned his back on Sasuke and took his entire inheritance and also became the President of the company. Man, I hate that kid."

"I can't believe it, what a jerk. Now I'm even more pleased that Ino broke up with that asshole." Sakura clenched her fists and glared at her coffee cup. Sai was the worst; he had never really been a true friend to Sasuke. From the get-go he was only ever in for the money.

Kakashi had to think about it for a second. "Yeah, Sasuke had to struggle to get to where he is now. He never planned on ever becoming a doctor but he said that he had this strong feeling to become one. Naruto about flipped his lid when Sasuke told him, but the idiot didn't want to be outdone by his rival, so he signed up for classes and now here they all are. Owning their own major hospital. Konoha struggled greatly in the health department ever since Tsunade left. In the end it all worked out."

Sakura smiled happily. "I'm very proud of them." She could see the smirk behind Kakashi's mask.

"As you should be," he told her. "Naruto and Sasuke have worked very hard over the years, as you can tell they even set aside their pride to work with Neji."

Sakura grinned disbelievingly. "I still can't see how that managed to happen. Last I remember was Neji threatening Naruto to stay far, far away from Hinata. Plus, you know Sasuke and Neji had never really been that fond of each other."

"And who's fault was that?" He asked pointedly, arching a brow at her. "Besides, Neji majored in business and economics. Sasuke and Naruto would be lost without that pompous brooder."

Sakura blushed and spluttered a response. "Hey, it wasn't my fault Neji liked me. I had no idea- it was obvious I was dating Sasuke anyway." She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest indignantly.

"Still didn't stop that ridiculous fight from breaking out." Kakashi scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Sakura looked cheeky as she grinned. "I don't know, I kind of enjoyed it."

"You would," he clucked his teeth. "What a sadist."

Sakura laughed loudly as the conversation continued. They had a lot to catch up on and Kakashi had always been a strong fixture in her life. Even after seven years they picked up exactly where they left off. She wished she could say the same for her and Sasuke, but she knew that that was just something she was going to have to accept. No matter how hard it would be. She wondered if she was going to get in trouble with Sasuke for skipping out on the last part of her shift.

Sakura paused slightly to look at the time. "Oh, wow, we've been talking for so long already." She smiled, not really minding.

Kakashi stretched and sighed happily. "Well, that's my cue to get going. I have a meeting tomorrow with the board."

"Sounds like fun," she said jokingly.

"Oh, yeah; I love sitting in a small room crowded by ten old men. It's practically a dream come true." He quipped sarcastically.

Sakura chuckled and stood leaving a few bills along with what Kakashi left and they made their way out into the cold September evening. "I'm amazed with how cold it gets in Konoha, especially being as the Summers are usually a lot longer than anywhere else."

Kakashi nodded and wrapped his loose jacket around him more. "Well, Natures a frigid b- Good evening ma'am," Kakashi cut himself off to let an older lady pass by, he nodded at her politely and Sakura gave a warm smile.

The older woman must have heard Kakashi for she just rolled her eyes at the man, but smiled right back at Sakura and patted her hand kindly as she went by.

"What a cute Obaa-san." Sakura giggled at Kakashi's expression.

"Whatever, I'll see you later. You take the bus home?" He asked, digging his keys out of his pocket and pressing the button that unlocks his car automatically.

Sakura watched as the lights to his car flashed and listened to the sound of his car unlock. She nodded to his question. "Yep," she said walking backwards towards the bus stop so she could talk to him. "The apartment is across town; it's easier to take the bus," she dug into her big shoulder bag and pulled out a small paperback. "Gives me time to catch up on my reading."

Kakashi saluted to her in understanding. "Readings always a good thing," He said holding up his own paperback, he opened his car door and paused before he was about to get in. "It's really good seeing you Sakura."

Sakura smiled. "You too, Kakashi-sensei."

"Aye~."

She laughed and turned around to walk forward, the bus stop was about a block away and she had to get there before the bus did. She waved as Kakashi drove by with a honk of his horn, her heels clicked against the sidewalk as she made her way through the lamp ridden streets. Steam came out from her mouth with each warm breath she took and she wondered how long it was going to be before it would start snowing. Because of the long Summers the winters in Konoha were a lot harsher than anywhere else.

She didn't mind much though; she liked the winter actually. She was surprised however that it was already getting cold in September, usually the Summer would last at least until the middle of October or the beginning of November. And around December it would start getting really cold and it would last till at least March. Sakura stopped as the walk sign turned red and watched as the many cars drove by, even at this time in the evening so many cars were still racing by. It wasn't real late, but it was already dark and everyone was just now getting off of work and heading home.

She hummed a low tune under her breath as she thought about things. Sasuke was probably already home with Satsuki. She was sad that she didn't get to see Naruto today but she felt that it made up for seeing Neji once again and Kakashi also. She was so happy that her friends were accepting her back so easily into their lives, and weren't mad at her. She supposed that nothing really bad came between them, and they seemed to have understood why she had to leave. She was happy to have such understanding friends.

She couldn't wait to see Hinata and Tenten again, and she had seen Temari a lot in Suna since she was Gaara's older sister. That didn't change the fact that so much has happened. She wasn't expecting things to stay the same, now she regretted being so selfish for leaving in the first place. However, she knew she wouldn't have been able to stand seeing Sasuke get married and start a family. He'd most likely wouldn't have known who she was if she had stayed anyway. She could only imagine what would have happened if she had decided to stick around.

Mikoto would hate her all the more and she'd actually have to sit and watch and suffer as Sasuke had gotten further and further away from her. She shook her head and slapped her cheeks to snap herself out of those thoughts. No, she had made the right decision in leaving. She had gotten a lot more success in Suna than she probably would have if she stayed in Konoha. There was no use in looking back into the past. That's what it was, the past, no use in pondering "what if's" or "could have's".

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the sound of the bus up ahead and she had to practically wave it down so it wouldn't leave her. The door opened for her and the driver glared at her. She sucked her teeth and scowled at the back of the driver's head as she scanned her bus card. She turned to look for a seat and saw an unusual sight.

There was Uchiha Sasuke, sitting at the back of the bus, with a sound asleep Satsuki wrapped in his arms lying contentedly in his lap. He was dressed in comfortable clothing and the little boy was in a long sleeved shirt and some pajama pants. The older male wasn't really paying attention, his head was leaned back and turned to the side to look out the window, his expression looking like he was on a whole different planet.

She got up the nerve to make her way to the back of the bus and she slowly approached the unsuspecting Uchiha. "Uchiha-san?" She asked casually and curiously, her brow was raised questioningly when he looked at her.

He blinked tired eyes up at her and seemed as if he had to think about who she was before recognition passed before his eyes. "Ah, Sakura-san, what a surprise to see you on the bus at this time." He said scooting over closer to the window to let her have a seat. The back of the bus's seating was fairly big but there was an older gentleman on the other side and Sakura didn't really feel comfortable with sitting so close to him.

Sakura sat a comfortable distance away but close enough to have a conversation. "I could say the same about you. My apartment is across town and I didn't feel like paying for cab fare."

Sasuke nodded in understanding. "Ah, that's understandable. I'm here because of Satsuki." He said, nodding his head towards his sleeping child.

"Hm?" She looked down at the small boy; his mouth was parted, tiny snores leaving his lips with every exhale. He had strands of his hair lying across his head in every direction, as if he had just left from his bed. As she looked closer she noticed there was drool slightly falling out of the corner of his mouth and Sakura couldn't help but be completely enraptured by how adorable this little boy could possibly be.

"Satsuki has nightmares and for some reason riding a bus for a few hours helps him sleep better." Sasuke clarified for her

Pink brows rose in surprise. "How'd you manage to figure out that the bus helped him sleep?"

Sasuke contemplated his answer, his eyes going up to the ceiling of the bus. "I think it was about a couple years after my wife died that Satsuki started having nightmares and no matter what I did he just wouldn't go to sleep. I tried everything from giving him warm milk before putting him to bed, giving him a nightlight, which he didn't take too kindly to, even went to a specialist to see if it could be something neurological, but nothing seemed to work."

Sakura listened with rapture as he told his story. She'd never heard Sasuke talk so much or be so open in all her years of knowing him. _`He's changed so much.'_

"I think one night I was just so drained from work and Satsuki just couldn't calm down from this particular nightmare; I kind of lost it and just picked him up and walked outside. I was probably a few blocks from my house when the bus pulled up, Satsuki still wasn't sleeping but I could tell he was tired. Without thinking about it, I got on the bus and came and sat back here," he said, indicating to the seat they were sitting on. "Ten minutes later he was out like a light."

Sakura looked shocked. "Wow, that's quite a story." Her eyes went down to look at the little boy who was laying against his father's chest, his mouth parted slightly and breathing out tiny snores, his little hands holding tightly to Sasuke's shirt.

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, he's gotten better, but every now and again he'll have a nightmare and we'll come and ride the bus. It's not too bad; I've come to enjoy these little moments myself," he looked at her. "Gives me time to think."

"It's always good to think," she said in agreement, clearing her throat awkwardly to distract herself from Sasuke's intense eyes. Even when he wasn't trying to he still always found a way to make her heart beat faster and her stomach flutter with little butterfly's.

"So," Sasuke said, bringing her attention back to him. "You never did answer my question." He said, running a hand through Satsuki's hair.

Sakura blinked thinking back to what he said. "Oh! I was catching up with an old friend and we kind of lost track of time with talking." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"You mean Kakashi?" There was that look again, and this time, Sakura was able to read it.

She tried not to show the shock in her expression. _`Did he follow me?'_ "Ah," she said apologetically, feeling nervous about how she was going to explain about how she knew Kakashi. "I'm sorry about skipping out on work earlier, something came up and I wasn't able to handle it the way I probably should have. Sorry I just ran out of your office like that without notice."

Sasuke shrugged and continued to play with his son's hair. "It's fine. Your shift was going to be over soon anyway, though you're going to have to make up for it by working an extra hour tomorrow. So I have something to put on the reports." He explained.

There was a short silence between them, Sakura's flitted around the bus restlessly, there was hardly anyone. And she still had a way to go before she made it home. She checked the time on her phone and sighed, it was almost ten and she still had laundry to do before she went to bed.

Not really wanting to spend the rest of her time staring into space, Sakura dug into her bag and pulled out a worn and old paperback book. She flipped through the pages until she found her space and crossed her legs to get more comfortable. She probably went through two pages before she saw from the corner of her eye Sasuke shift uncomfortably.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, looking at him curiously.

Sasuke grunted and tried to shift around as much as he could without disturbing Satsuki. "My arm fell asleep."

Sakura couldn't help but hold back a snort as she continued to watch Sasuke shuffle around in his seat. "Do you want me to take him so you can get the blood flow back?"

The Uchiha paused shortly, but nodded and carefully placed Satsuki in the woman's waiting arms. He tried to shake his arms out as much as he could without looking like a complete idiot in front of Sakura. "I'm sorry I had to let you do that. This hardly ever happens."

Sakura shrugged and kept her arms firmly wrapped around Satsuki. "It's fine," she smiled down at the boys mop of dark hair. "I love kids anyway. They always had a comforting aura around them to me."

"Do you have any kids?" He asked curiously.

Sakura scoffed. "No, a close friend of mine does though. You might know him actually." She said thoughtfully. "You do know Gaara don't you?"

"Murderous red head?"

"That's the one."

"Yeah," Sasuke sighed. "I know him."

She laughed at his expression. "What, you and Gaara don't get along?" Now that she thought about it, Gaara had never really shown much interest in Sasuke, and whenever his name was mentioned, Gaara always looked about ready to kill. She started to wonder what could have happened between the two. "Not to pry or anything, but did something happen?" Well, Gaara was probably never going to tell her anyway.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and looking as if he was thinking. "I can't exactly remember what happened, I know it was probably around my third year of college that he had suddenly came and punched me in the face. I can't seem to figure out why though. Gaara and I were never really close anyway, but we were friends."

Sakura's eyes widened suddenly.

* * *

" _You did what?!" She screeched at the beaten red head standing in her living room. "Are you stupid?"_

" _Hey, Sakura, chill. He didn't know what he was doing." Kankuro soothed, handing his brother an ice-pack._

 _Gaara didn't say anything but gratefully took the ice-pack and quickly covered his swelling eye with it._

 _Sakura stood there, literally seething. "I told you not to mess with him. What the hell is wrong with you?"_

" _I did what any cousin should have," He shot back. "I did what Naruto and all the rest of those pansies should have!"_

 _Sakura's anger suddenly melted. "I didn't want to cause problems. We ended mutually."_

 _Gaara scoffed and threw the ice-pack against the wall. Both Sakura and Temari flinched. "That's bull and you know it! You gave that jerk everything you had for five years and when he feels like it, he tosses you to the curb because mommy and daddy says so? Sasuke's lucky I didn't break his face." He snapped._

" _Gaara," Temari warned. "That's enough." She walked over and wrapped a comforting arm around Sakura's shoulders._

" _No," he hissed. "It's not; she needs to hear this. If you could you'd probably let him get away with murder. Why do you let him treat you like that?" He said, turning his attention back to Sakura._

 _Sakura scoffed shakily, a lone tear falling down her cheek. "You think I wanted this to happen?! What was I supposed to do, get down on my knees and beg him to take me back, to change his mind? How can something like that be love? Yes, I'll admit; I let Sasuke get away with a lot of crap while we were dating, but I knew he loved me. It's different now... All I could do was let go." She said sadly._

" _Then we're going back home." He said sternly. "You're my cousin and I care about your well-being. I already talked to Tsunade and she has a place for you at the hospital so you won't have to go there poor and jobless."_

 _Sakura gaped. "You can't make that type of decision."_

" _Then do you want to stay here and drown in your own tears and booze? You're killing yourself by staying here. Look, obviously you're a lot more attached to Sasuke than he is to you and before you really get hurt; I think it's best to leave."_

 _Temari tightened her grip on Sakura and shook her slightly. "I think he's right, Sakura. We're all really worried about you. It's not healthy for you to stay here. Ino's really worried about you also, so maybe we should just go back to Suna for a little while. Not permanently, but maybe at least until you get better control over your emotions and you're able to heal without worrying whether or not Sasuke's going to be walking with some chick on his arm the next day."_

 _Sakura stared at her family with sad eyes, when she couldn't take it anymore she collapsed on to the ground. "God," she said covering her face with one hand. "I really am pathetic, acting like this because some guy broke up with me." She scoffed at herself and tried to hold back the tears._

 _Temari knelt down beside Sakura and moved the hair out of her face. "Sakura, to you, Sasuke wasn't just some guy..."_

 _That was all the reassurance she needed. Sakura looked up and met eyes with Gaara. "I'll go back to Suna... But I don't want anyone to know but Ino. If I'm going to leave; I want to without any connections to anyone. If I'm going to move on, then I need time; I need to stay away from things that remind me of him... And sadly that has to be my friends too."_

 _Kankuro sighed and crossed his arms. "Are you sure you want to do that?"_

 _The rosette nodded her head hesitantly. "Yeah," she bit her lip and nodded more confidently. "Yes, I'm positive. This is the best decision."_

* * *

Sakura blinked and looked away from Sasuke, her hands were shaking slightly. She took slow breaths to try and calm her frantic nerves. "O-Oh, r-really?" She cursed herself for stuttering, but luckily Sasuke didn't catch it. She had to change the topic fast before-

"I think it was about some girl..." He trailed off unsure, his head cocked to the side as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe."

Sakura froze. "W-What makes you think that?" She had to know.

Sasuke hummed deep from his throat. "I just have this feeling. And isn't it usually about a girl when two guys fight?" He smirked at her.

Sakura smiled back nervously and found herself trailing her eyes away from Sasuke's and to anything else that looked interesting. "Ha," she swallowed. "Ha, yeah I guess. Guys," she said offhandedly with a fake laugh. "They are so predictable."

Sasuke, looked at her strangely with a cocked brow. "Are you alright?"

The rosette laughed some more; she felt like a crazy person. "Oh," she `pssh'd' and waved him off with a hand. "I'm perfectly fine." God, someone kill her now. Finally, her eyes lit up when she saw a familiar building come into view. "Oh, look, my stop is coming." Without much warning she gently and carefully handed little Satsuki back to his father and then gathered her purse and coat and made her way up to the front of the bus. "I'll see you tomorrow in the office Uchiha-san. Great talking to you." She nodded and hummed with a smile and then swiftly made her way out of the bus, hoping she wouldn't trip.

Sakura was about to walk away when she heard her name being called from the top of the bus.

"Sakura-san," she looked up to see Sasuke looking at her from the window, and then he was throwing something out of it. She caught it clumsily between her hands and when she stabled herself she looked down to see it was her book. "Always forgetful." He waved at her and with that the bus drove away without any more warning.

She watched as that bus drove away and five minutes had probably passed before something suddenly clicked in her brain. "Oh my god."

* * *

"He what?!" Ino spluttered, her green tea spurting out of her mouth.

Sakura gave her a disgusted look and grabbed a towel from off the counter to clean up the spittle. "You heard me. Though..." She paused to make sure everything was clear. "I don't think he even realized what he had said."

The blonde furrowed her brow in confusion. "So what, you think he had a memory lapse or something?"

"Don't know." Sakura flopped back down on the floor. She crossed her legs and reached over for her can of beer and popped a rice cracker into her mouth. "I don't think he remembers me though. I think his subconscious made him say that. Like not really a memory of me passed, but saying something like that might have sounded familiar or the setting. Sasuke had always reminded me when we were dating about how forgetful I was. Which was why he was always taking care of all the planning and whatnot, because I would always forget."

Ino scrunched up her face and sucked her teeth rather crudely. "How can you be so calm about this. He almost remembered you!" She exclaimed loudly.

Sakura wiggled her nose as she looked down at the last contents of her beer. Hm, she drank that rather fast… "I'm not making a big deal about it because I know how the brain works. Trust me, it really was nothing. This will probably happen a lot now that I'm back. While we were talking he had to recall and talk about an event that was about me. He doesn't know it was about me, but he knew it involved a girl. That must have opened up some things and his brain was just spurting out whatever it wanted to. But the kicker is Sasuke doesn't even know it's happening."

Ino sighed and leaned her cheek against her hand. "There you go, getting all smart again." She looked at her tea in disgust. "I want a beer, but I have a job interview in the morning and it wouldn't be good to get wasted."

Sakura cackled. "That's what you get for being such a lightweight."

"Hey," Ino snapped in annoyance. "Not everyone can be a bottomless barrel!" She sucked her teeth again and raised herself off the floor. "Ugh, I hate job interviews!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and drunk the last of her beer in one gulp. "Why do you waste your time with menial jobs? Don't you have a Doctors Degree for a reason. Use it." She crushed her empty can and tossed it into the garbage bin.

Ino slammed her hand against the counter. "That's exactly what my parents would want me to do." She cried running back to her seat on the floor. She chewed at a piece of dried squid halfheartedly and pouted. "I never wanted to be a doctor but for some reason that's the only thing I'm good at." She kicked her feet petulantly.

"You're a great makeup artist." Sakura pointed out, her finger nudged at her eyelid, showing how perfect a job Ino had done earlier in the morning.

"Not by the college's standards. Because of how prestigious my father is, they don't think it's fitting for me to waste my time learning how to do makeup."

Sakura raised a brow disbelievingly. "Is that even legal?"

Ino huffed and scratched her head in frustration. "I think my dad had something to do with it."

"Man, does everyone have problems with their parents?" Sakura fell back on to the floor in exasperation. "I'm so glad my parents are poor and noodle shop owners.

Ino laughed and smacked Sakura's thigh. "You should be grateful you have such wonderful parents. I bet it's because your mom is Korean."

Sakura scoffed. "If that was the case I'd still be in college. Koreans are crazy when it comes to education."

"Oh come on, you became exactly what your parents expected you to be."

"This is true, but that's only because "I" wanted to be a doctor. My parents never pushed me to any certain type of career, which I'm very grateful to them for." Sakura explained. "They would probably be proud of me if I decided to become a bum and travel the world."

Ino threw up her hands and fell back alongside Sakura. "See, this is what I mean, your parents are perfect. You even know three languages. My parents never cared about getting me lessons to take up another language. They wanted me to stay in Japan forever!"

Sakura chuckled and shook her head. "I learned Korean because half my family is Korean. Does Gaara, Temari and Kankuro ring any bells? Japanese is my native tongue and I lived in Australia for a year, of course I had to learn the language. Though, I'll admit, I'm a little rusty on my _Engrish_." She laughed at herself.

Ino snorted. "What type of Asian makes fun of their own race."

"A drunk one."

Ino laughed and covered her face with a pillow and then went to throwing it at her pink haired friend. Sakura smiled toothily as she dodged the pillow Ino had tried to hit her with. "Oh come on, I was just trying to lighten the mood. You were getting depressing. Go call that lazy boyfriend and tell him to go take you out on a nice date tomorrow. I'll be back home late again so I won't be here when you get home from your interview."

Ino stopped trying to hit Sakura with her throw pillows and blew the loose strands of hair from her ponytail out of her eyes. "Oh, is that so," she shrugged and stood herself up. "That's fine. I'll go stay with Shikamaru at his house then. Will you be okay here by yourself?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, I might even go visit my parents since the weekend is coming up and I have Sunday off; I might just stay with them."

Hinata nodded her head. "Okay, sounds good. Say hi to your family for me."

"Of course. If I don't see you in the morning, I'll give you hug now."

"Goodnight Sakura."

"Night."

* * *

The next day Sakura felt more energized than before and got up early to call her parents to let them know she was coming over for the weekend. They were obviously excited to know that she was coming to visit after returning to Konoha and told her they were going to work to the bone for taking so long to come and see them. She wasn't surprised in the least; her mother was a beast.

As she walked into the hospital she noticed how quiet it was, not surprising, she did arrive a little earlier than usual. Wanting to get some one on one time with some patients as their breakfast was delivered to them. She always did so while working in Suna, and she didn't see any harm in doing so now.

"Hey Mira-san, can I have the patient files for the third floor?" She asked the receptionist. This one was actually someone she got along with pretty well, but hardly ever got to see her for she always worked the graveyard shift. She was older and didn't care much about Sasuke's looks so she didn't deem Sakura as unworthy for being his surgical assistant.

"Of course Sakura-chan, here you are. Are you going to visit with the young ones who have undergone surgery?" Mira chirped, especially chipper for someone who hasn't slept for twelve hours.

Sakura nodded as she took the few files into her arms. "Yes, I've been meaning to do so for a while, just haven't found the time. I figured now would be perfect." She shuffled through the folders to look at some names. "You made sure these were Sasuke's patients right? The last time I accidentally went into someone else's patients room I nearly had my head ripped off." She chuckled in regret.

Mira laughed and nodded. "Yes, I made sure. Naruto-san also asked me to allow you the chance to visit some of his patients. He said he'd guess you'd be visiting the children's ward sooner or later and told me to hand over the files of some of his young patients who have had brain surgery."

Sakura smiled. "Great! I'm so happy, Uchiha-san hardly ever goes into the children's ward so there aren't many patients to visit. If you see Naruto while you're still here please tell him thank you for me."

"Of course Sakura-chan, you have a wonderful day. I'll let Uchiha-san know where you are when he arrives."

Sakura nodded and waved goodbye as she made her way towards the elevators. Yep, she felt for sure today was going to be a great day.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hey guys! Here you go, finally met Kakashi and Satsuki! Yay! I know a few don't really like the idea of Sasuke and Karin procreating and having a child. But Satsuki has got to be my favorite character, probably because he's free to do with as I please when it comes to character development. He's also the catalyst to Sasuke and Sakura's relationship. I can harbor no ill will towards this precious creature. You'd think I'd add Sarada since she's canon but, I've always wanted Sakura and Sasuke to have a boy. Who knows, maybe now that I'm rewriting this fic I'll add her in. You'll just have to wait and see! ;) Please forgive any mistakes you may see.**_


	6. Chapter 5 What am I to You?

_**My New Boss**_

 _ **Chapter. 5**_

* * *

"Will you please go check on Sahada-san in room 412? He's complaining of a discomfort in his hip." Sakura asked one of the nurses as she handed a folder over to another staff member. She blew stray strands of hair out of her eyes as she moved back and forth from desk to desk and room to room. Today was a hard day, they were low on staff and three of their major doctors were out on business in another country.

So much for thinking today was going to be a good day. It was freaking exhausting!

Sakura quickly set her glasses in place as she looked over important paperwork and signed it off as fast as she could before another nurse had called her name. She wasn't in her regular attire today. She had to wear scrubs and tennis shoes due to having to be prepared for any emergency surgeries. She softly knocked a patient's door and walked in with a smile. "What do you need Ushida-san? Are you feeling uncomfortable?" She asked patiently as she checked the elderly woman's vitals.

The woman gave her a wrinkled smile. "I'm doing fine, Sakura-san, but I'm having terrible headaches."

Sakura nodded and tapped the oxygen tank. "It's because you're using this. It'll happen sometimes but I assure you it'll get better. Just take deep relaxing breaths and you'll be comfortable in no time. However, give a call if it doesn't go away and I'll set you up for some pain relievers, okay?"

"Thank you, Sakura-san. I'm sorry to be such a bother." The woman looked genuinely apologetic.

Sakura shook her head. "Not at all, I'm just doing the best I can for my patients. Call me if you need anything else." She turned and made her way out of the room and back down the hall. She sighed and rubbed her neck, her shoulders immediately sagging. She walked back to the nurse's station and told them of Ushida's situation and then walked away as they confirmed their understanding.

She was so tired. She removed her glasses from her face and rubbed at her dry irritated eyes. She had to stay in the hospitals living quarters last night and she had gotten barely any sleep from being on call. She wondered if she was actually going to be able to visit her parents after all, she had been so busy.

Making her way back to the fifth floor she ignored the elevator all together and took to taking the stairwell. She preferred taking them, because it seemed every time she walked the halls to the elevators someone was always searching for her and demanding her services. She noted that no one ever took them and decided the best way to get to her destination without being bothered was from the stairs.

When she made it to the fifth floor, she stretched out her arms and back before she opened the door. Her shoes made squeaking noises against the newly waxed flooring and she felt like she'd slip any moment if she made the wrong move. She looked around wondering where all her staff was when she suddenly heard a bunch of footsteps coming from behind her. She barely had time to move herself into the wall before Satsuki zoomed past at top speed.

She spun around shocked, raising the charts in her arms over her head so she wouldn't drop them. "Satsuki!" She shouted, unable to keep her footing as she tripped over her own feet and fell flat on her back, papers flying all over the place. She mourned over the mess as they scattered around in different directions. "Ah!"

Satsuki turned at the sound of Sakura's mortified wail and skidded to a stop when he saw the aftermath of his actions. His eyes widened as he ran back to the pink haired surgical assistant, kneeling down and placing his hands out to help her any way he could. "Sakura-nii!" He was so dead.

Sakura groaned and raised herself up slowly. God, that hurt! She flinched when she felt a little body knock into her roughly. "I'm so sorry Sakura-nii! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Oh no; I broke you didn't I!" He looked about near tears. "Please don't tell papa!"

Sakura pushed the hair out of her eyes and gave a small smile. "I'm fine Satsuki; but you have to stop running through the halls. You don't want to get in trouble by your father do you?" She patted his head and then proceeded to gather all the scattered papers. Satsuki being the little, guilty gentleman, helped her gather them and stacked them neatly on top of each other. "What were you doing anyway?" She asked curiously.

Satsuki looked up with a small pout. "I was looking for papa of course! That mean nurse at the front desk wouldn't tell me where he was." He stuck his tongue out in the direction of the front desk.

Sakura laughed. She was amazed at how much energy the little five-year-old had. "Well, I was just about to go meet up with your father now, you want to come with me?" She asked, holding out her hand to the little boy.

Satsuki nodded happily and accepted her hand and proceeded to drag her along.

Sakura shook her head and followed, making sure to point out where exactly they were supposed to be going. "So, how was your day at school?"

"It was fine." He shrugged.

Sakura snorted at how much he just sounded like Sasuke at that moment. They continued to make small talk, well, as much as one could when talking to a child the age of five. When they finally found their way to Sasuke's patient quarters, Satsuki had let go of her hand and opened the door with a bang.

Sasuke and the person who was in the room both jumped at the noise the door made. Sakura grimaced and swiftly ran in to get Satsuki. She forgot to tell him to wait for her to check and make sure Sasuke wasn't with any patients. She ran in with an apology on the tip of her tongue when she walked in and found Sasuke and someone she didn't recognize in a compromising position. The two before them jumped away quickly when Sakura had covered Satsuki's eyes with her hand. She swallowed and brought her eyes away from the scene and bowed respectfully. "I'm so sorry!" And with that she turned and ushered Satsuki out of the room feeling heat rise up her neck.

Well, that was awkward.

...

...

...

They were in the lobby when Sasuke had found them, Satsuki wasn't looking too happy and Sakura looked as if she was trying to cheer him up with a small ice-cream cone. He made himself scarce as he listened in on the little conversation they were having.

"Come now Satsuki-chan, eat the ice-cream, it always makes me feel better." Sakura urged, holding the cone under the boy's nose. She sighed when he only shook his head and turned his face away petulantly. "Alright," she said, placing one hand on her hip as she looked down at the stubborn child. "What's wrong?"

Satsuki sniffed, she thought he was crying but didn't see any tears. "Why was papa with that lady?" He suddenly asked, looking at her with big eyes.

Sakura froze and to cover up her shock she brought the ice-cream to her mouth and started to nibble slightly. She sat down on the wall ledge Satsuki had found purchase on. "Um, well, your papa must have really liked that lady. Sometimes grownups need private time with other grownups they like." She said with a strained smile. Boy this was uncomfortable, she really didn't want to be talking about something like this, but she could see the troubled expression Satsuki was sporting and felt compelled to explain. The most important thing right now was Satsuki and his feelings.

"But I don't want papa with that lady!" He suddenly shouted, his tiny fists clenched at his sides.

Sakura jumped a little surprised at the sudden outburst. "Satsuki, I'm sure you don't mean that. Don't you want your papa to be happy?"

"I wanted papa to be with you!" He cried out with another sniff. Now he really looked like he was going to cry. "I wanted papa to be happy with Sakura-nii! You're so nice and kind to me, you always make sure that I'm okay no matter what. Isn't that what's most important?"

Sakura exhaled and patted Satsuki's head affectionately. He hiccupped and blubbered, it looked as if he would never stop. "How do you know that lady isn't nice? I'm sure she'd love you once she got to meet you."

"No way! All she wants is papa, that's why he never bothered to let me meet her! I'm not important at all!" He bawled, drawing attention from spectators around the lobby.

Sakura choked on her ice-cream and pounded her chest to dislodge her throat so she wouldn't suffocate. "W-What?" She breathed shakily after she regained her composure. "Where did that come from?"

Satsuki pouted. "I like you, so why doesn't papa like you? I don't understand!" He wailed feeling utterly confused and brokenhearted. "Sakura-nii is the coolest person ever and you have pink hair!"

She smiled good naturedly, feeling a little like her hair was the deal breaker in his decision. She looked around before settling her eyes back on the pouting child. "Sweetie, I-I just met your father after a very, very long time. Plus, your papa's my boss." She bit her lip at her awful excuse. "Your father and I are friends. Just like how I'm your friend."

"But don't you like papa?" His eyes seemed to have gotten bigger.

"Uh," Sakura stuttered, her eyes widening. "How should I put this?" She scratched her cheek in thought.

"Satsuki."

 _ **`Oh my god! We're saved!'**_

Sasuke was standing a small distance away, looking as calm as ever, especially after having one's son just practically walk in on him getting cozy with some woman the poor boy didn't know. Sakura scowled at his calm and collected composure. Really now was not the time to be acting like this when clearly your son was so distraught.

Satsuki also scowled at his father, but for a whole other reason and turned away from him with a huff.

Sakura patted the boys back, knowing how much this must be affecting him. Children usually grew attached to people fairly quickly, and it appeared as if he had grown quite attached to her. Though, he only met her once, which reconfirmed her idea on mainly it being because of her hair. Really children were so easily appeased. However, they could also be very easily hurt, which was probably why Satsuki wasn't taking too well to the news that his father was probably going to have someone new hanging around. She was shocked to know that Sasuke would be as unprofessional to do something like that in a hospital, let alone in a place where he knew people would walk in on them.

She clucked her tongue mentally. Whatever, it wasn't her business, Sasuke could do as he pleased. She was just a little disappointed that he had upset Satsuki.

"Satsuki," Sasuke repeated tensely, his face completely blank and his posture showing her exactly that he wanted her to stay quiet. "Let's go." He said sternly.

The little boy's lip wobbled but he held in whatever he wanted to say and he gave Sakura a small wave before he jumped down the wall and walked slowly over to his father. The elder Uchiha gave her a sharp nod and placed his hand behind his son's head and softly led him in the direction of the exit.

Sakura watched as they disappeared through the revolving door and then she looked down at her watch and cursed herself. She still had an hour before she had to go home and she still had patients waiting for her. She made her way quickly to the elevators and was about to walk in when the doors opened with a ding. She immediately stopped, pausing shortly at the person who was in the elevator and gasped. "H-Hinata-chan?"

The aforementioned woman turned to Sakura with widened eyes. "Sakura-chan!" It took no time for the girls to be jumping up and down and hugging, saying how much they had missed the other. "It's been so long; you look so different. I wouldn't have recognized you if it wasn't for your hair." Hinata picked at a strand and rubbed it between her delicate fingers.

Sakura nodded excitedly. "Same with you, but you're the only female I know without pupils." She joked.

Hinata laughed. "This is true. Wow," she said holding Sakura at a distance to get a better look at her. "Naruto told me you were here. I just came from the fifth floor looking for you but the nurses thought you'd left for home early."

Sakura shook her head. "No, I just came down here with Satsuki."

Hinata's hands flew up to her mouth in surprise. "You've met Satsuki-kun already?"

Sakura smiled. "Yeah, he's an amazing little boy. Smart too for his age." She stated, crossing her arms over her chest admiringly.

Hinata agreed. "Yes, he is... I can't wait for you to meet mine and Naruto's." She blushed and clasped her hands together, feeling shy all of a sudden.

Sakura smirked and smacked Hinata's shoulder. "Would you look at that, little shy Hinata-chan has returned!"

Hinata blushed and covered her cheeks with her hands, "don't tease me, Sakura-chan," she whined.

"Oh, I'm just playing. I can't wait to meet your kids. I'm sure I'll love them." She giggled behind her hand.

"I'll have Naruto bring them sometime. I work at the law firm downtown so I probably won't be here as much as I'd like to, but you have to come over for dinner. We live in the Hyuuga compound." She stated, giving Sakura's hand a squeeze.

A lone pink eyebrow rose in suspicion. "The Hyuuga compound? Really?"

Hinata nodded. "Yes, Neji and I are joint heads of the compound now. Ever since father fell sick, he's finally gave up on being an old grump. I guess he wants to spend as much time as he can with us before he goes." She didn't look sad, just melancholic.

Sakura rested a hand on the woman's shoulder. "I hope your father has been good to you."

Hinata smiled and gave a small nod. "Yes, he's been very kind, well as much as he can be at least. But he's great with the kids and he tolerates Naruto. Naruto doesn't mind of course; he loves to pester father."

Sakura laughed. "Sounds like something Naruto would do. Stubborn fool."

Hinata also laughed. "Yes, Naruto can be a little," she paused looking for the right word. "Hyper at times but I think he's toned it down a lot since Baruto was born."

"I've noticed," Sakura commented. "He's still the same loud idiot, but you can still sense the maturity he's developed. You've turned him into a good man. I know how much he liked you, years ago." She smiled at the wife of her best friend.

Hinata gave a shaky smile. "We've really missed you Sakura."

She swallowed guiltily. "I'm sorry I left the way I did."

"No," Hinata shook her head quickly and grabbed Sakura's hand. "Don't apologize. I didn't say that to make you feel bad; we really have missed you and I'm so sorry you had to come back home only to experience more pain. Sasuke's changed so much and you had to see him in this state. I would rather you'd stay in Suna forever than to return to have your heart broken all over again, especially after you spent seven years trying to heal." She confessed tearfully.

Sakura closed her eyes after hearing her friend's words and drew strength from them. She smiled and shook her head, realizing that Hinata seemed more upset than she did. "Oh, Hinata. Don't cry, I'm so much stronger than I was before. I don't want you to be sad. It was time for me to come home, and I'm so glad I did. I missed all of you so much." She pulled the crying woman into her arms and held her tight.

"What happened to us?" Hinata whispered sadly. "We've grown so far apart... Distanced ourselves and hid behind unreality. We should have tried harder to make Sasuke remember you and that's where the rest of us are at fault." She pulled back and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "You don't deserve to come back to him like this. You don't deserve to suffer. Even though you're hiding it well, it's plain for me to see you are struggling."

Sakura sighed and shrugged. There wasn't much for her to do, not like she could deny it. It was hard, but she couldn't change anything. Seven years was a long time.

Hinata looked down sadly. "Naruto told me you can't quit because you owe it to Tsunade. Has he at least been treating you well?"

Sakura nodded slowly. "He treats me the way a boss is supposed to treat his employee. The only thing he shows me is indifference. He's the same ole' Sasuke from when we were kids, basically, but you know what?"

Hinata looked up.

"I wouldn't change that for anything. He's still Sasuke, and that's never going to change. He's matured for sure, but all of us have. I'm definitely not the same as I was all those years ago, and I think that's why I can face Sasuke every day with a brave face. The pain will always be there, but now it's more of a dull ache. Tolerable, and unassuming." She smiled and titled her head to the side. "I'm so happy to be home."

Hinata leaned against the wall. "I wish there was something I could do. At least he's not being cold towards you. He's not, right?" She asked, noticing the unsure look coming from her friend.

Sakura rubbed her head. "I don't know, the last couple of days have been weird. He's been acting like a total jerk. I don't know if I should be saying this but I was taking Satsuki to go see Sasuke and the poor thing had walked in on Sasuke with some woman," she clucked her tongue, not paying attention to Hinata's horrified expression. "I came down here," she motioned to the lobby. "To try and give the kid some comfort; he was really shaken up about it. And then Sasuke comes down here acting like it's my fault that the whole thing happened in the first place. You should have seen the way he acted." She scoffed. "That's what you get for fooling around in a hospital. How immature." She muttered bitterly.

"Is Satsuki okay? Where is he now?" She asked looking around.

Sakura motioned towards the exit. "I guess Sasuke took him home."

Hinata nodded. "I'm sorry. Sasuke-san is not really one for relationships, but he'll have a lover every now and again… That must have been who you saw; I just hate the fact that Satsuki-chan had to see it."

Sakura nodded in agreement. She glanced down at her watch and sighed mournfully. "Look," the she said with a regretful smile. "I have to get back to work, but I'll give you a call later so we can catch up. Bring Tenten along next time. I can't wait to see her. Is your number still the same?"

Hinata woke from her daze. "Uh, yes. Sure, I'd like that. I heard you're living with Ino again. If we do make plans, you should bring her along."

"Okay." With that they parted ways with a hug and a wave.

" _Sasuke-kun?"_

 _Sasuke looked up from his position on the bench and squinted as the sun landed straight into his eyes, the rays blocking his view from the figure standing before him. "Hn, what do you want now?" Couldn't he read his book in peace?_

" _Mou, you're so mean Sasuke-kun!"_

 _He could practically hear the pout in the girl's voice._

 _The girl laughed a twinkling laugh. "Naruto and Kiba played a prank on Kakashi-sensei today at break. You should have seen it, it was hilarious!"_

" _I don't care what that mutt and the idiot do with their free time." Sasuke smirked, looking down at the book sitting on his lap. He didn't bother looking up at the girl anymore, his eyes were hurting from the stupid sun anyway. He started slightly when he felt a hand run through his hair softly. He relaxed from the touch and hummed deep from his throat._

" _Sasuke-kun?"_

" _Hn,"_

 _She giggled mischievously and swiftly snatched the book from his hands. He looked up in annoyance only to see a flash of pink as she was just now turning the corner of the schools building. Her laugh following behind her as she shouted. "Come and get it Sasuke-kun~"_

 _He was up to his feet in a flash ready to go after her._

Sasuke snapped out of his thoughts immediately when he heard commotion coming from down the hall, Naruto and Sakura shouting out orders with booming voices. He ran down the hall as fast as he could, not even having time to think about what the heck his mind had just processed. "What happened?" He asked sternly, grabbing a nurse by her forearm.

He ignored the blush she immediately sported. "Four car pile-up. We would have brought her in sooner but she was buried under one of the cars. She just arrived and Sakura-san is getting her prepped for emergency surgery." The nurse said quickly, feeling her nerves get the best of her from having one of the hottest men in the city touch her. The best part was that he was single!

Sasuke rolled his eyes and immediately dropped his arm away from the girl and rushed over to where Sakura and Naruto were. He could see all his staff working at moving the girl from the gurney on to the bed and saw the blond work at tying his mask around his face, Sakura doing the same.

"I need her information." Another nurse said as she walked up to Naruto.

"No time for that, do you not see her bleeding from every orifice on her body?!" Naruto shouted at the nurse like she was an idiot, he barked out more orders as he worked at what he could while with limited tools. Why wasn't there a tray of things he needed here already? "Has her hair been shaved yet? We have to stunt the bleeding!"

"Uchiha-san-" The nurse stuttered shyly, holding the clipboard to her chest tightly.

"Get me some fluids!" Sakura bellowed, she tried as best as she could to stop the blood in the girl's abdomen. It was pouring rivers and her hands were becoming drenched.

Sasuke could tell already that there was a long list of things wrong with the girl and he had no hope for her making it. There was no need for him to step in; he could already see the outcome.

"Yes ma'am!" The nurse shouted, scurrying away to fulfill her duties.

Sakura held in a flinch as the girl started to gasp for breath. The poor thing didn't look no older than six and she had a collapsed lung, a broken spine and a fractured knee, not to mention she was pouring blood from a hole in her stomach. Her head was also bleeding from an unknown cause. She shouldn't even be alive, but the girl was fighting for her life. Sakura's brow furrowed in determination as she skillfully worked at trying to get the girl's breathing regular. This was becoming extremely tedious due to the fact the girl had more important things that needed to be worked on, like the fact her throat was filling with blood.

Naruto cursed under his breath as things started to go from bad to worse as her blood pressure began to decrease. "Crap!"

Before any of them knew what hit them, Sasuke heard the strong sound of a flat-line coming from the machine at the girl's bedside. Naruto shouted more curses and got the paddles and rubbed them together and counted loudly and then pressed them to the girl's chest, her body jumped from the shock, but her heart did not regulate. The blond did it again and again before Sakura had finally placed her hand over his wrist and shook her head. The whole room stopped. Sasuke watched as Naruto's shoulders seemed to deflate and watched as he pulled down his mask. "Time of death..."

"6:45pm." Sakura uttered, her eyes devoid of any emotion. She knew that trying to bring her back was pointless, but her heart ached nonetheless as the failure seeped through every pore in her body. She kept telling herself that they did everything they could… If only they had found her earlier.

The blond turned and practically yanked off his blood covered gloves and threw his mask angrily onto the tray, where tools and used wads of cotton stained in red, lay. He paused slightly at the sight of Sasuke and the dark haired male just nodded at his friend. Sakura followed shortly after, but stood beside him rather than walk out like Naruto. The Uchiha watched as she continued to stare off into space. He patted her shoulder. "You did good." And with that he walked away to file the report of what transpired. The daydream falling to the back of his mind.

* * *

Sakura slumped against the wall and wiped her brow with her wrist in exhaustion. Her scrubs were dirty and her hair was in disarray. She ran her hand through the messy locks roughly and scratched at it carelessly. The day had been long and hard, she had even pulled a double without realizing it. The clock overhead showed it was at least two in the morning. After the episode with the little girl, things hadn't stopped because of her death. They still had more people to help after the accident, Sasuke had her go help Naruto, knowing his friend was probably still shaken by the little girl's untimely death and needed someone close to him to be there. She smiled slightly, even being a doctor, Naruto would probably always have a kind heart and not develop the stoic personality like most do when working in their profession.

 _`I hate losing a patient.'_ She thought bitterly, her mind going back over the events that occurred with the death of the little girl, critiquing every little thing that she did, finding the faults and cursing herself for not doing something differently. After a while of totally insulting herself she felt the presence of someone watching her. She continued to stare at the ceiling.

"It's rude to ignore your boss." The voice stated.

Sakura finally looked to the wall across from her and saw her ex-boyfriend stare at her with curiosity. She hadn't seen a look like that on him in a while. "I apologize Uchiha-san, that was not my intention. I must have been caught up in my own thoughts to realize you were there," she said formally, stiffly standing and bowing her head respectfully. Sometimes she really felt like a dog doing that.

"I'm going to need your report before you go home." There was no emotion in his voice, but that wasn't unusual, when did he ever not frown or glare?

She wanted to scowl at how passive he was, always hating the fact that he could hide his emotions or just simply not care about anything while everyone else felt the blows and dealt with the consequences. The only time she'd ever seen something in his eyes besides anger was when his brother died, and even though he had loved her once, she still found it impossible to tell what he was thinking from his eyes. He was a closed book even now. Unlike her.

 _ **`At least some things never change.'**_ A voice whispered in her head. Sakura didn't know whether to be happy or sad about that fact. She shook her head and looked back up at Sasuke, he was staring at her and she felt a little uncomfortable. She scratched her cheek nervously. "Um, is there anything else, Uchiha-san?"

Sasuke shook his head faintly and just walked away.

The rosette watched as his figure disappeared around the corner and wondered briefly if he had been going to say something important.

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

"So what is it you wanted to talk about?" Naruto asked as he slurped at his ramen messily. Already the events from earlier in the day were slowly starting to seep out of his mind. He was thankful Sasuke had allowed Sakura to assist for the remainder of their shifts. He didn't think he could concentrate without her being there to support him.

Sasuke watched his friend ate in disgust before he remembered what he initially called the dobe over for, taking a deep breath, he resigned himself and spoke, "Sakura was my girlfriend." He stated this, numbly picking at his ramen with his chopsticks. He had never one to beat around the bush.

Naruto choked, his eyes widening a fraction and his throat constricting dangerously on a noodle. "What?" Was all he could utter, not really knowing how to take his friend's sudden statement as he grasped at his throat.

Sasuke sighed and rubbed his temples before beating Naruto's back roughly. "I don't really know... I had this strange thing happen to me today, it was like a memory, but of Sakura. She was teasing me and I wasn't exactly trying to push her away and she was really affectionate with me."

The blond swallowed numbly. He couldn't think of anything to say. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't break Sakura's trust in him and tell Sasuke the one thing she didn't want him to find out. But he was remembering- Sort of, and if he was remembering, then things would eventually get better. Or so he was hoping. "Oh come on Sasuke, are you sure you don't just have a crush on Sakura and you were just daydreaming about her or, something?" He laughed nervously, trying to play it off.

He decided to ignore his friend's ridiculous comment altogether, "what exactly am I not remembering?" His eyes narrowed dangerously as the silence continued. "I already know something happened between us, why can't you just tell me already? Don't lie to me."

Naruto sighed and set his chopsticks down and looked at his friend seriously. "You of all people should know you can't rush anything when it comes to the brain. I can't bring back your memories Sasuke. Only you can do that. You have to give it time. And I told you that it's Sakura-chan's business- it's not mine to tell."

Sasuke sighed and threw his head back against the chair. "I'm tired of waiting... Why are you so loyal?"

Naruto leaned back in his chair and rubbed his face, noting that he was getting a little stubble on his chin. "I know you're frustrated Teme, but you just have to be patient. In time I'm sure you'll get your memories back. And if I wasn't loyal you wouldn't be my friend." He patted his friend on the shoulder reassuringly.

Sasuke exhaled and looked back out the window. "Something happened."

The blond arched a brow in wonder. "Something like...?" There wasn't anything saying Sasuke couldn't try figuring everything out on his own while Naruto gives a supporting ear.

"Between us, I mean- I keep feeling like we had a relationship. I know you can't tell me what's going on and I respect that, but this is becoming a lot more frustrating than I think it's worth... And I don't even know if I want my memories back in the first place. If they're locked away, then there had to have been a good reason for me to do so? Maybe I should relocate her to a different section of the hospital. I've been sending her to the E.R, maybe I should make that permanent."

Naruto gaped. "That's really selfish Teme, just because you're scared of facing the truth or the unknown doesn't mean you should treat Sakura-chan like that. The only reason she came back was to work under your tutelage!"

Sasuke looked at his friend in surprise. "Dobe, don't get your pants in a knot. Calm down."

Naruto ground his teeth in frustration. "How could you say something like that? You're just running away- like you always do!"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What the hell is that supposed to mean, dead last?"

"Nothing, forget it." He snapped, deciding not to say anything more as he went back to shoving ramen in his mouth.

* * *

"Wow, you look like crap."

Sakura blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and threw her keys on the desk table by the door. She was exhausted that was for sure. Shrugging off her drenched coat and twisting the water out of her hair she patted her way into the archway of the den. Ino was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, looking as beautiful as ever. "Love you too, Pig."

The blonde brushed her hair out of her eyes and looked over her friend skeptically. "Rough day? Let me guess; you forgot to bring an umbrella to work also?"

"Don't rub it in." Sakura sighed as she slipped off her soaked socks and walked over to their little half bathroom to grab a towel to wipe off her damp skin.

Ino eyed Sakura up and down with a serious expression, not liking what she was seeing. "What happened?"

Sakura paused, her hair falling back into her eyes as she let the towel drop from her head to her side. She paused for a split second and bit her lip and then she took a deep breath. "I lost a patient today."

Ino nodded slowly, figuring that's what had Sakura so bent out of shape. She recognized the signs; Sakura loved her job and always worked hard for her patients, there weren't many instances where Sakura would lose a patient, so when she did it was nearly impossible to get the rosette out of her funk. "Was it that accident from earlier this afternoon?"

Sakura sighed, rubbed her temples and then nodded. "Was it on the news?"

The blonde nodded and walked towards her friend to wrap a comforting arm around her shoulders. "It was on almost every station. It's not too often we get accidents like that in the middle of the city. The rain has been going non-stop, they said it was due to how slick the roads were, the drunk driver didn't help all that much either."

With a nod of understanding and a reassuring smile Sakura slipped the drying towel into the hamper and took her first step towards the stairs. "Ah... So, that's what happened."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm used to it. I'm going to go change." The rosette muttered, sluggishly walking up the stairs, her hand rubbing her sore back along the way.

Ino nodded and watched her leave, going back to reading her magazine, waiting for her friend to come back down. It didn't take long for Sakura to be back with a pair of short shorts, a large t-shirt and knee length black socks, her hair was still rather damp, but it was short so they didn't have to worry about her getting sick.

Ino watched as Sakura made her way towards the kitchen and set her magazine down to follow her. She leaned against the doorjamb, watching as the rosette got a tea kettle and filled it with water from the faucet. She followed her with her eyes in silence all the way to the tea bags.

"You want some?" Sakura asked, waving the box of tea at her friend invitingly.

Ino shook her head in the negative, "no thanks." To help, she walked over to the cabinet and got the tea set off of the shelf and gently set them on the counter, grabbing their infusers and spooning loose leaf tea into each. "I thought you were going to see your parents this weekend?" She mused, reaching for the jar of honey and placing on the tray.

Sakura continued with what she was doing as she spoke, "I changed my mind. I had too much of a rough day today to think about going to face the wrath of my parents. I know when I see them again they'll be mad. I'll wait until later to see them, tomorrow I just want to sleep the day away." She lit the gas stove for the water and walked to the living room with Ino behind her as they waited. She slumped into the plush sofa and closed her eyes, feeling the pressure of Ino sitting down next to her.

"I'm sorry today was bad." Was all the blonde could manage to say in sympathy.

Sakura ruffled her pink hair messily and shrugged after, letting the strands fall down around her shoulders. "It's not anything I can't handle," waving her hand in reassurance, Sakura looked at her curiously. "What are you doing here? I thought you were staying over with Shikamaru?"

Ino huffed and crossed her arms. "That lazy idiot is meeting up with his boss for some kind of research or whatever, they're going to Suna for the rest of the weekend." She pouted slightly feeling cheated of a wonderful weekend with her boyfriend.

"He's been really busy with his job lately." Sakura mentioned with raised brows.

Ino nodded in agreement. "Jiraiya is being a real pain. He's always calling for Shikamaru at the most ridiculous and spontaneous times. I know that old perv doesn't think ahead for anything."

"What's in Suna anyway?" Sakura asked in confusion.

The blonde flipped the hair out of her eyes. "I don't know. I never know what's going on in that old man's head."

Sakura laughed and shook her head. "Well, I'm sure things will be fine. We have the weekend to ourselves!" She threw up her arms to stretch, her back popping appreciatively and started making her way to the kitchen as the kettle whistled loudly. Rounding the corner, she had just enough time to grab against the archway, hands uselessly gripping before she made a slight noise in discomfort and suddenly stumbled.

Ino reached out for her friend's shoulder in concern. "Hey, Sakura are you okay?"

Sakura opened her mouth to respond but gagged, feeling the world spin on its axis. She fell to her knees, clutching her head suddenly as pain pierced through her skull. She blinked a few times to no relief, her world was starting to blur and fuzz and she could tell Ino was saying something but it came on deaf ears. Before Sakura knew what hit her, the floor was vastly approaching her and her world was starting to go black. She could vaguely hear Ino shouting her name repeatedly before she allowed unconsciousness to take her.

* * *

 **A/N: First, I'd like to apologize for being so delayed in updating. I know some of you must be thinking I'm a horrible person and that the chapters are already written "so what the hell is her deal?!". I completely understand those thoughts, and it's true. However, even with the chapters already written they still needed some deep cleaning. My writing style has significantly changed, as well, I'm no longer that 15 year old with sloppy writing technique nor am I as devoted to this fandom as I had been. However, I'm still going to publish this story, even if it kills me. Sasuke and Sakura going canon has helped feed my desire to keep going. I still feel really bad. Sorry everyone. All of you are amazing and have the patience of god for sticking around so long. Thank you!**

 **Secondly, I edited this chapter in parts over the course of months and weeks so I'm not sure how it all looks and I hope it make sense. I've made some significant changes and at first it was over 13,000 words and I had to split it up. Let me know if I've missed some noticeable things and I'll come and rectify it. See you shortly!**


	7. Chapter 6 It's Still a Dark Night

**_My New Boss_**

 ** _Chapter. 6_**

* * *

Green eyes blinked open and warm, callused fingers were gripping her cheeks between their hands. "Mnmf, Ino?" She mumbled, barely coherent through her haze, pushing at the hands that were scanning over her face.

"Hn, hardly."

Upon the realization that in fact, that was _not_ Ino's voice, but a man's, Sakura had instantly shot up only to scream out in pain as her head smacked into something equally solid.

A loud curse and something that sounded like broken glass followed as the figure fell to the floor in a groaning mess. "Oh, my god, I think I just cracked my skull." She groaned in pain, her hands wrapping around her forehead.

"What do you think you just did to me?" The voice, that sounded very familiar, replied, sounding pissed. "This is the thanks I get for coming here to do you a favor and save you the pain of having to suffer from Ino's ridiculous first aid skills. God, I'm going to be sick." He groaned as he got further into Sakura's view.

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked through blurry eyes, trying to see passed the spots, forgetting that Sasuke was her boss and she wasn't supposed to address him so informally.

"Hn, no, it's the big bad wolf." He snapped sarcastically, raising himself slowly back on the couch.

Sakura blushed in embarrassment and wondered what he was doing in her house, and where was Ino at a time like this? She couldn't remember anything except for being in the kitchen and suddenly feeling very ill.

"Ino called me. She said you collapsed all of sudden and didn't know what to do. She's gone to bed; she was up for hours helping make sure you were alright."

Sakura sighed and rubbed her head and finally looked freely at Sasuke. He was wearing a black pair of slacks and a button down, crisp white shirt, a black t-shirt underneath and it at least had four buttons undone at the top. _`He'd look so sexy if he wasn't wearing that t-shirt underneath.'_

She blinked out of her daze when Sasuke had cleared his throat and was looking at her with amusement, his infamous smirk ever present on his face. "Next time I'll make sure to ditch the undershirt."

Her face probably matched her hair as she realized she had been speaking her thoughts out loud. _`Oh, god, I just said that out loud!'_ "I-I- T-that wasn't supposed- I'm sorry." She ducked her head and gripped the ends of her skirt as she looked anywhere but at Sasuke. _`I'm so fired.'_

"I'm not going to fire you," Sasuke reassured, shaking his head and lifting her chin as he grabbed her face and examined her forehead, his hands turning her head to the left and right making sure she didn't suffer any permanent damage. "Are you having any problems with your sight, or are you seeing spots, how many fingers am I holding up? You suffered from extreme fatigue, plus Ino told me you walked home in the rain. Really, how irresponsible could you be."

She blushed again and willed herself not to cause any more harm and smack herself over the forehead for her stupidity. _`Why can't I keep my thoughts to myself?!'_ She bit her lip and focused on his fingers. "Five."

 _ **`Oh, this is just too hilarious!'**_

Sakura slumped back into the arm of the couch when Sasuke let her go with a satisfied nod. She took this time to think about how she had even ended up in this situation.

Sakura's eyes widened and she swallowed the bile that suddenly got stuck in her throat. She stared at Sasuke who was fiddling with his med-bag. If she was paying enough attention, and wasn't scared out of her mind, she would've noticed how he was fidgeting. But she hadn't, and instead she felt like she was drowning. Panic attacks were very common for her, especially since her break up and she felt the sudden feeling of not being able to breathe.

"Sakura, hey what's wrong?" Sasuke asked, noticing how pale she had become and how her breathing grew irregular. "Hey," his hands took her face again, but her eyes weren't focusing and she felt like she was about to pass out again. What the hell was he doing here? Did he get his memories back after all this time? Surely Ino calling him wouldn't have brought him here like this, there was no reason for him to.

"Sakura!"

Sasuke's shout brought her back from her painful thoughts and her green eyes focused on his dark ones. "Calm down," he told her sternly. "Look, I might not remember much but I know who Ino is. She was very worried about you and panicked. I'm not mad for being called here. I'd be a horrible doctor if I didn't come, especially being as you're my employee."

Sakura blinked, feeling slightly reassured.

"Sakura?" He asked, searching her eyes for some sign of something. He may have been finally saying her name without the honorific but he was beginning to think that they were getting a little too comfortable, but the girl was going in and out of reality and he was worried whether or not she had hit her head a little too hard.

Pink hair fell into aqua green eyes and she raised a delicate hand to move it away, and Sasuke unconsciously stared at her small, delicate hand as if he were in a trance, noting a ring sitting delicately upon her ring finger. He unconsciously started fiddling with it, finding it oddly familiar.

Sakura gaped and looked between their joined hands and Sasuke's face. "Uchiha-san?! W-What are you doing?"

Where had he seen that ring before?

" _Sasuke-kun, what are you doing?" The girl asked with smiling eyes as she followed behind her boyfriend, his much larger hand wrapped strong, but gentle around hers. "My parents are going to freak when they find out we ditched the gathering."_

 _Sasuke smirked and turned around to look at her, his eyes softening, barely noticeable at her bright smile. He knew she didn't care one bit that they left the party. "Your family is crazy. How you convinced me to just walk here, I probably will never know, but I'm not spending one more second with your crazy grandmother. She has grabby hands." Sasuke shuddered at the awful things that happened to him during dinner._

 _She laughed, it sounding like bells to his ears. "Sasuke-kun, grandmother is just appreciating your good looks, she's very proud of my catch." She nodded teasingly and grabbed his arm with her other hand as she squeezed his fingers._

 _Dark eyes rolled. "You make me sound like a fish."_

" _No, you're more of a dolphin, or a whale," laughing at his expression. "I'm just teasing, don't give me that look." She brushed her tiny fingers over his cheek as she pulled them to a stop. They were in front of a park that grew cherry blossom trees. This was one of Konoha's most treasured places. She looked around them, her eyes sparkling with pure joy. "Well isn't this just a cliché moment, yeah?" Her eyes were alight with laughter and pure fondness as she rested her head on his shoulder._

 _Sasuke exhaled through his nose, looking around them also, but his eyes immediately going back to the girl. He was watching as she giggled, her head turning every which way to get a good look as cherry blossoms flew around them. He dug one hand into his pocket and the other pulling at the hand he was gripping, he smirked when she stumbled against his chest. "Look, it's just like our first date, you falling for me."_

 _She snorted at his lame joke and pulled at his arm until it wrapped around her waist, which he obliged without much complaint. He didn't know how she did it, but somehow he became such a pansy when around her, and for reasons beyond him; he couldn't fathom to care. "What has gotten into you tonight, you've never been this talkative, nor have you ever initiated anything remotely romantic. Not that I'm complaining really, this is kind of awesome." She grinned cheekily and stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek._

" _Hn," as she was pulling away he leaned forward to kiss her on the mouth. "Just don't tell the dobe, I'd never hear the end of it."_

 _She gasped dramatically, her eyes twinkling with hidden mischief. "Oh no, we left Naruto all by himself, he'll be scarred for life if he's left alone much longer with my aunties and grandmother. You of all people know how much they like the tooshies." She winked at him suggestively as she reached around to pinch his lower back and he couldn't help but chuckle at her own grabby hands._

 _Sasuke honestly could care less about the dobe. He had other important things to worry about. His fingers fumbled around in his pants pocket for a while before he pulled it out and raised the hand he was holding until it was between them. She stuck out her bottom lip curiously and looked down at their clasped fingers. Her nails were painted a pastel blue and she wiggled them at him teasingly. "You sure have become rather fascinated with my hand this evening. You haven't let it go hardly at all this whole day- Sasuke, is their fetishes you haven't told me about?" She bit the inside of her cheek to hold in another giggle._

 _He narrowed his eyes at her playfully and nipped at her cheek as she laughed at his expression. "Okay, okay, I'll stop! That tickles!" She brushed her wet cheek against her shoulder, and didn't have much time to think before she felt something cold slip around one of her fingers. She blinked and bit her lip as she looked down at their hands again, her mouth opened wide in disbelief as she stared down at the simple little silver band, wrapped perfectly around her finger. She splayed her hand out in front of her to get a better look and her eyes slowly drifted to dark ones that were looking away rather nervously._

 _It was simple, but she thought it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. Rose gold, thin and dainty, but not gaudy, with an intricate design rather than a diamond. Just how she liked it. She knew right away what it was too. She took in a deep, shuddering breath and pulled him closer by the hem of his shirt. "What's this mean Sasuke?" She asked, her breath fanning his chin as he looked down at her, his arms immediately wrapping around her shoulders._

 _Dark hair fell over dark eyes as Sasuke lowered his mouth to hers, muttering the words against her lips before he pulled her in for a kiss they wouldn't be breaking until they were completely out of breath._

" _Why don't you figure it out, Sakura."_

"Papa...?"

Sasuke snapped out of his reverie as he found it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe himself, but another sensation totally overriding his need for much needed oxygen. Onyx eyes opened slowly only to stare into, too close, shocked eyes. He immediately pulled back from the female wrapped in his arms, her lips leaving his, just as soon as his back was against the other end of the couch's arm. His eyes were wide and confused and Sakura looked about ready to either cry or break him in half. "S-Sak-"

"Papa, where are you?"

The tiny voice distracted their gazes from each other and they watched as a tiny figure came barreling down the stairs. Dark eyes searching until it landed on the adults sitting far from each other on the couch. He didn't notice the look of betrayal and pain on Sakura's face and he hadn't noticed the utter look of disbelief and confusion on his father's. "Satsuki," Sasuke's arms opened and the little boy took no time in jumping into his arms.

Satsuki smiled brightly at Sakura. Sasuke noticed how the woman had a hard time in smiling back at his son, he could tell she was definitely furious. He felt like such a jerk right now. "What's the matter Satsuki, did you have another nightmare?" He asked the boy, wanting a distraction from all the confusing mess going on inside his head.

Dark eyes gleamed up into matching, identical ones. "Not really. I just kind of noticed I wasn't in my own bed and got scared. Where are we, and why is Sakura-nii here?" His little head turned back to Sakura in confusion.

Sasuke opened his mouth to answer, but Sakura beat him to it. Sakura's hand came and ruffled Satsuki's hair and she smiled in a strained sort of way. The guilt was literally eating Sasuke alive now, he could see her holding back. He was definitely grateful for her restraint on Satsuki's account. "Your papa just came to help me. I got into a little accident and he was just healing one of my boo-boo's." She avoided any and all eye contact with the eldest Uchiha, her fists clenching at her sides. "This is my home," motioning around the room with her hand and Sasuke's eyes immediately locked on to it, noticing something different… There wasn't a ring on her finger at all. Had it all just been his imagination? He felt like he was going to throw up, his stomach churning and his throat filling with pure acid.

"Satsuki," he voiced hoarsely, immediately gaining the attention of them both. "I think it's time we go home. It's really late and you have school tomorrow." He raised himself off the couch and took a pouting toddler into his arms and braced him against his hip. He still didn't look at Sakura as he grabbed his medical bag and made his way to the door. "I'll," he cleared his throat and finally looked at the rosette, his stomach doing a weird flip and the feeling of utter hopelessness filled him. "I'll see you at work." And with that he grabbed his jacket and walked out of the door with lightning speed.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at his back as she watched him walk out into the foyer. The anger inside of her was welling up and bubbling from within her. She was so angry! How dare he. She clenched her jaw to the point she heard it pop and nearly ripped her shirt from how hard she was gripping the thin material. She didn't know what was going through that head of his, and she couldn't find it in her to care. All that mattered now was that she was going to kill him. She stood to her feet and stomped towards the stairs, not caring as her hand swiped viciously at a vase on her way.

…

…

…

Sasuke was practically hyperventilating as he walked out of Satsuki's bedroom and willed his fingers to stop shaking as he dialed a familiar number on his cell phone, curses spewing out of his mouth as he had to at least redial the number about three times before he finally got it. He clenched a fist when the urge to bite his nails like a pubescent teenager came through him. He was about to throw his phone across the room from no one picking up, then a groggy voice rang clear through the silence.

" _'ello?"_ Naruto's sleep ridden baritone spoke through the receiver.

Sasuke sighed in relief, never being as happy to hear the blond idiot's voice as he was now. "Naruto,"

There was silence from the other person, but he could hear some definite shuffling. He guessed it was the blond leaving out of the comfort of his bed so he wouldn't wake up his wife. _"Sasuke?"_ The voice sounded irritated. _"Do you have any idea what time it is? It better be a freaking emergency or I'm not coming to work for the next two weeks!"_

Sasuke scowled and clenched his fist around his cell phone. "Something happened." He said in a strained voice.

There was another pause. _"What's wrong?"_ Then there was a loud smash and the sound of Naruto's muffled cursing. _"Oh god, I think I just broke my foot."_

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose to try and keep his annoyance at bay. "I kissed Sakura."

There was a long pause, Sasuke could only hear the increasing sound of Naruto's breath through the phone and he knew the blond was about ready to blow up. _"Y-You, w-wha- I- I mean- Have you lost your mind?!"_ There was a quick pause and then a choke of what could only be interpreted as shock. _"Wait, wait, wait!_ You _kissed Sakura? Do you not think about these things, or do you just go with the flow nowadays?!"_

Sasuke flinched at the shrill voice and groaned as he banged his head against the kitchen counter. "I know... I don't know what happened." There was silence yet again and then he heard cabinets being opened and closed and the sound of a microwave being turned on. "Are you making ramen?"

" _Dude, I don't know about you, but this is a really big problem, and I need comfort food. I feel like we're in high school again."_ There was a bland chuckle and he could imagine Naruto leaning against the counter, waiting for his ramen to be finished. _"Why'd you do it, Teme?"_

Sasuke sighed and rubbed a hand through his hair in frustration. "Naruto… I think I'm starting to remember somethings. Possibly. Maybe..."

" _You don't sound all that sure of yourself there."_

Sasuke slid his hand across the counter in uneven strokes and looked towards the ceiling. "No, I'm not all that sure of myself at all. I don't know what was going on, I didn't even know I did it until I was already doing it."

" _So what? You just kissed her and that's it. Did you two talk about it or anything?"_ Thankfully Naruto was keeping his head on about all this. At least one of them could think clearly about this odd situation, for that Sasuke was grateful. _"Please don't interpret my calmness as being absolutely okay with you right now. I'm hella pissed and it's taking everything within me not to drive over there and beat your ass within an inch of your life."_

Sasuke felt sick again. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm absolutely ashamed of myself and can't believe my actions either." He ran his hand over his face and pulled at the ends of his hair in what could only be anxiousness. He's never felt like this before a day in his life as far as he could remember.

" _Look asshole, why don't you just explain to me what happened, and maybe I'll only kick your ass minimally. No promises."_

Sasuke sighed, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. "Ino called me; Sakura had fallen ill and I came over to make sure she was okay—Don't have a conniption she's fine. Ino had gone to sleep and I stayed to make sure Sakura woke up, and I don't know, we started talking and I got caught in a memory or something—Next thing I knew I was kissing her. Satsuki came the next minute and I bolted out of there."

There was a low growl. _"So you just left her there? Not explaining yourself or anything? Sasuke, obviously you know something went down between you two and you don't even stick around to make sure she's okay? You just can't do stuff like that! Now it's even more difficult for me not to come up there and kill you!"_

"All of this could have been avoided if you had just told me what the hell relationship Sakura and I had! It's not like it was intentional!" Sasuke hissed, his fist clenching at his sides.

" _Well it might as well have! How could you do this? I never told you anything because it's not good to just shove a whole bunch of information at someone like that. It needed to happen gradually. I never told you to go make out with her and hurt her again in the process. Do you not think?! The only reason why I did that because I_ thought _you were smart enough to understand and maybe- just maybe slowly start to get your memories back and finally give Sakura the closure she needed, but you ruined that! You're an idiot. Plain and simple."_

Sasuke couldn't stand being yelled at anymore. "It's not like I meant to, alright? I wasn't even paying attention remotely to anything at that moment but that stupid memory!"

Naruto let out a frustrated noise. _"Bull, you're telling me every time you have a memory or whatever of Sakura you're just going to kiss her stupid?"_

Sasuke rubbed his eyes in irritation and growled. "I'm really getting annoyed with you right now. Would you just shut up and let me explain?! I'm so tired of everyone being obscure and treating me like the scum of the earth."

Naruto sighed and conceded, encouraging Sasuke to continue.

Sasuke thanked him, finally feeling like he could get his side of the story out. "Hey, do you remember ever going to one of Sakura's family gatherings?"

" _Yeah, we went to a bunch of 'em. Sakura's family loved us, especially you, seeing as you were "hot" and probably had good genes to produce "pretty" babies for them to blubber over."_ Naruto chuckled at this, his temper finally receding. Naruto was never one to have the capacity to stay angry for too long, nor the attention span.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Was there one that actually meant anything?"

There was some noise of dishes clinking and he heard a yawn come from Naruto. It was actually really late now that he looked at the clock, but that could wait, he needed answers. He heard his friend sigh. _"Where are you going with this Tem- Wait? Tell me exactly what you remembered."_

"So something did happen at one?" It couldn't be… He couldn't have. Sasuke had to grip on to the counter as hard as he could to not fall to the floor from the shock. "So that wasn't just my mind playing tricks on me and fabricating some ridiculous fantasy?"

Naruto laughed. _"No, if it's what I think you're thinking then that actually happened. I don't think anyone could forget Sakura tackling me into the kiddie pool from her excitement. Of course, no one outside of the three of us actually knew what happened that day. Sakura only ever wore the ring on special occasions, but mostly she had it on a chain she wore around her neck. It was supposed to be your pre-engagement ring for her. But she didn't know that... She just thought it was a promise ring or some other girly thing like that."_ He rambled, slurping at his noodles happily.

Sasuke frowned. "I gave her my great grandmother's wedding ring?"

" _Hell if I know. Look, you did that a month before you broke up with her. You didn't want anyone to know that you two were getting_ that _serious so only the group knew, you know? But your mom... She really did a number on your relationship with Sakura. I'm not saying anything bad, but you made a huge mistake in leaving Sakura for Karin... I know you don't remember, and I know Satsuki is your whole world, but things would have been a lot better for you if you had gone in a different direction. One that didn't involve Karin."_ The blond stated knowingly.

Sasuke scowled. "Don't talk about her like that. She's the mother of my child."

There was a scoff. _"Don't act like you actually cared about her. That's all she was to you Sasuke, the mother of your child. You know how miserable you were while with her, it's just you never understood why, now you do. It's because you didn't have Sakura-chan!"_

Dark eyes narrowed at the wall. "This conversation has gone way off topic. Go to bed idiot. I'll see you at work, you can come in late for all I care." He didn't wait for a response before he hung up on the blond and marched his way upstairs, bypassing his bedroom altogether and going straight to his son's. He peaked in quietly and walked in as stealthily as he could. With as much care as he could muster, he climbed into the small twin bed and wrapped his arm around his child and ran his free hand through his hair. He clenched his eyes together tightly, willing himself to go to sleep.

* * *

Sakura walked off the bus with a big grin as she looked up at the house that she spent most of her childhood in, it still looked the same as ever, with the nice quaint little yard, flowers strung out beautifully, the nice crisp white of the house with green shutters. She took a deep breath, taking everything in and then she swiftly walked towards the white gate and pressed the call button to alert that she was outside.

"Haruno residence?"

"Omma~" Sakura called excitedly.

"Sakura!"

Before she knew it her sweet mother was flinging the door open and running out towards her with big tears. "Omo, my sweet little blossom." She sang, wrapping her arms tightly around her daughter. There was quaint moment before her mother pulled back with a frown and smacked her daughter over the head.

"Ah, Omma!" Tears pricked her eyes for another reason as her angry mother dragged her into the house so as not to draw too much attention to them.

…

Sakura sat across from her mother nursing a sweltering cheek, waiting for their tea to cool. "You haven't changed at all."

Her mother waved her off, "I wouldn't have to beat you if you'd been decent enough to send a letter or two," she pinched her daughter's cheeks mockingly, being sure to squeeze more than necessary before pulling away. She laid her hands in her lap and sighed, "where have you been all this time, making your appa and omma worry over you? The only notice we ever got that you were okay was from Gaara and it's like talking to a rock with him." She clicked her teeth multiple times showing her disappointment.

Sakura looked down. "Sorry. I know I should have called." She apologized and bowed her head respectfully.

"Oh, lift your head child. I know that you were struggling over that Uchiha boy... I don't blame you," she grabbed her fan and waved it over her face, the summers of Konoha sweltering and unaccommodating. "Honestly child, you should have handled things better."

"I know," sighing into her tea shamefully, unable to meet her mother's eyes. "I was immature to leave so suddenly."

Her mother agreed with a firm nod of her head. "Yes, you were, but many people heal differently when it comes to broken hearts, and you did what you thought was best for you. Your appa will be very happy to see you again. After his own anger subsides."

Sakura felt giddy despite herself, very happy that she decided to return home for her day off. "I can't wait to see him."

"Yes," her mother smiled warmly, but then a frown suddenly graced her soft features.

"Omma?"

"Sakura, you have to know that we have new neighbors. They just moved in next door a few weeks ago. I think before you even returned." She explained, slowly reaching for her tea cup and taking a long sip, to delay the process of explanation.

Sakura blinked and looked quizzical. "Who?"

"Sasuke." She said hesitantly.

"What?" Someone was out to get her; they were probably having a hell of a laugh watching her squirm. Everywhere she turned he was there. He even moved next to her parents, how does that even happen? She felt like she was going to pass out from the sheer exhaustion of being put into these ridiculous situations.

"Yah, calm down," her mother commanded strongly, slamming her hand on the table. "Look, I'm guessing you already know the whole situation... Sasuke doesn't seem to remember you, but he remembers us, well some parts of us. I don't think he knows you're our daughter. He just knows we have a daughter."

Sakura gaped, now what was she supposed to do? When they were dating Sasuke never seen much of her parents because at the time they lived in Korea, he had seen them a lot before they started dating, but it still made her nervous. She couldn't really figure out why though.

"Maybe you should go give your regards." Her mother suggested, staring at her nails like they were the most interesting thing in the world.

Sakura scowled. "Omma!"

Her mother frowned and raised her hand as if to smack her daughter. "Don't yell at your mother, you brat. What's wrong with going to greet your boss, show some respect!" She huffed.

Sakura flinched and covered her head childishly. "Omma, don't treat me like I'm a teenager." She grumbled with a whine.

"Aigoo." Her mother clicked her tongue and shook her head. "I raised such a rude daughter."

Sakura stood with narrowed eyes. "I don't want to see him! How can you suggest such a stupid thing; he's my ex-boyfriend!" She nearly screeched.

"Why you!?" She slapped her daughter's thigh. "You're the one working for him, foolish girl!"

Sakura grasped her knee and hopped away, rubbing furiously at the offended appendage. "Why is it I'm the one that always has to suffer?" She whined with a pout. "Omma, please, I just came here to see you and appa. I don't want to see Sasuke right now. I promise, if I can I'll go see him, but not right now." She collapsed next to her mother and grabbed her hands and placed them in her lap. "Em?" She pleaded with sad eyes.

"You are really hopeless," her mom expressed begrudgingly, but patted her cheek softly. "I won't bother you about it anymore. Now come, let's make dinner for you father before he comes home." She ushered her pink haired daughter off the floor and into the kitchen.

Sakura laughed as she ran away from her playful mom.

When Sakura's father finally came home, it wasn't a happy reunion like she had hoped it would be. He was angry about how she just up and left without telling anyone where she was going. Though the few calls they got here and there never made up for how long she had kept them in the dark about her whereabouts.

He glared at her from across the table, looking ever like the disappointed father he was.

Sakura flinched, not used to seeing her father like this; she always known him to be a kind and gentle man. "A-Appa-"

"You abandon your family for some boy," he cut her off, his voice reverberating off the walls. "You ungrateful child, how dare you leave without telling anyone. Do you know what your selfishness put your mother and I through?" He glared at her.

Sakura knew she was about to cry, and she knew better than to look to her mother for help. If anyone could bring the salty liquid to the forefronts it would be her parents. "Appa," she tried to say looking down and bowing even more. "I'm so sorry. I know what I did was wrong. I should have told you where I was going and that I was okay, but Sasuke wasn't just some boy." She looked up at her father finally with tear filled eyes. "You of all people should know that."

Sakura's mother looked at her husband helplessly. "Yobo, give Sakura a break, huh? She's finally come home after so long, don't shun her."

Sakura bit her lip and looked away. She knew her father would be upset, but she never expected for him to act like he was ashamed to even call her his daughter. He wouldn't even look at her directly.

Sakura's father sighed and shook his head, and then he opened his arms. "Come give your appa a hug."

The rosette smiled and ran up to hug her father. It was a tearful event and Sakura had a lot to catch up on with her parents. They were upset that she had left without any warning or without any indication that she was okay and well. She had explained everything that happened and had told them where she had been who she had been with and what she was doing back after all that time. She told them how sorry she was about not letting Gaara tell them where she was through the short phone calls he had with them. Told them that she was sorry for not coming to them when she was going through so much trouble.

It was hard, but they got over it and welcomed their daughter back with open arms. She was happy to have such understanding parents and she felt like she could accomplish anything with how things were going for her. She knew better though than to think it would last, bad things seemed to follow her wherever she went, but she was glad to have this small moment with her parents. She knew nothing could stop the smile that graced her features as she walked into her old room, still the same way she had left it.

She dropped her bags on the floor and walked over towards her window, and sat down on the bench before she unlatched the lock and pushed the window open. She used to love sitting there and just feeling the fresh air. She remembered how much time she used to spend with Sasuke in this spot. She rubbed the window pane in remembrance.

 _Sakura smiled as she leaned against Sasuke, her arms wrapped around his waist and her legs wrapped messily around his. She took in a deep breath, smelling something that was just totally Sasuke._

" _What are you doing?"_

 _She paused mid smell and looked up sheepishly. Sasuke was staring down at her with his glasses hanging off the end of his nose and his dark eyebrows raised. "Sasuke-kun you smell good." Before she knew it the book Sasuke was reading popped her on the forehead. She pouted as he went back to reading and rubbed her forehead vigorously. "That was unnecessary."_

" _Don't say weird things." He stated, not looking away from his book._

 _She grumbled something under her breath and stole his glasses, which made him stop in his reading, seeing as he was useless without his glasses. "It's not weird; I was being romantic Sasuke- Which is something you don't seem to be familiar with."_

 _Sasuke rolled his eyes, but didn't try to grab for his glasses. He was not going to play her games. "Give me back my glasses. Unlike you, people actually have to read for their book reports." He glared at her as she laughed._

" _Oh," she sang, "if only people knew who the real Uchiha Sasuke was. They'd get a laugh for sure. I know you, putting up that nonchalant persona at school but if only they knew how you were with your girlfriend. If only they knew that you actually worked hard for your number one spot in the grade. Nerd."_

" _Says the one who's dating this said "nerd"." He grunted, folding the corner of the page and then closing his book and dropping it to the floor._

 _Sakura smirked as his hand threaded through her hair. "Duh, you're hot, why wouldn't I date you?"_

 _Sasuke glared and went to grab for her with his other hand. Sakura squealed and scrambled to get away, only to have Sasuke pull her back into his arms and wrap her tight into him. "Can't breathe!" She cried out with laughter._

" _Hn." Sasuke grunted, ignoring her protests and sitting back against the window._

"Sasuke..."

"Sakura... -san"

Sakura blinked in surprise and looked up in shock to see Sasuke standing across from her at the window to the next house. She jumped and bumped her head against the windowpane and Sasuke winced for her. She shouted in pain, rubbing her head vigorously. Great, just her luck, she left the city so she could get away from Sasuke and when she finally gets the chance to breathe, he's right there to rub what happened between them in her face.

Sasuke frowned, unsure of what to do and feeling sort of bad for startling her and making her hurt herself. He cleared his throat uncomfortably and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "So, uh, this is where your parents live- I'm assuming?"

With a start she looked up into the dark eyes of her ex-boyfriend and boss. She swallowed the bile that quickly rose to her throat and could do nothing but stare with wide eyes. Until now she had hardly seen or spoken a word to Sasuke. After what had happened between them, they had both been doing everything in their power to avoid each other. Sakura the most, she didn't want to be around him at all. Just looking at him from a distance made her feel this deep seated anger and something else she couldn't quite place, but recognized as purely unwanted. Pretty much her emotions have been all over the place.

He looked away and rubbed the back of his head, feeling even more awkward at her prolonged silence. Though it was to be expected. "I was wondering, but it seems my suspicions were correct. I knew the Haruno's had a daughter but I didn't think of it being you. What a small world."

Sakura strained a mock yet, polite, smile just wanting to get out of there. "Quite." She tried not to look nervous but was failing greatly with all her shuffling around. She ran her fingers through her strands of hair, not really knowing what else to say or do with literally cursing him into the ground.

Sasuke nodded. "Ah, tell your mother thank you for the kimbap. I'll bring the tupperware over on my way to work tomorrow."

"I-I will, um," she stuttered pointing behind her. "I better go; my parents are probably wondering what's taking me so long. I'll see you at work Uchiha-san." She bowed and waited until he closed the window and was out of sight before she shakily drew the curtain back and slumped down to the floor with her knees bent outwards and her elbows resting on the bench. She let out a suppressed sigh, the world feeling heavy on her shoulders. She was such a weakling.

"He's a good man."

Sakura jumped and turned her head in shock to see her father. She didn't say anything as she looked back at the house that Sasuke now resided in, her green eyes shined with uncertainty as she watched her father come into her room and walk over towards her and then sit down at her side.

Kizashi reached over for Sakura's hand and rubbed it comfortingly. "To tell you the truth I was surprised when Sasuke moved in next door, we're not exactly close to the city. I was even more surprised when I heard his father disinherited him. The Uchiha was always a name to be revered and back then I was shocked to hear that my very own Sakura gained the heart of the supposed heartless young Uchiha Sasuke. Not that there was any doubt that my special little girl couldn't win the heart of any undeserving man." He chuckled heartily.

Sakura sniffed and let out a dry laugh. She wiped nonexistent tears with her wrist and looked at her father helplessly.

He looked sad and rubbed the top of her head. "My poor Sakura." He said as a few tears dropped. "I'm so sorry that you couldn't come to me when you needed me the most. You loved that boy so much, didn't you?" He asked, reaching to rub her cheek. "Your Appa couldn't be there when you needed him."

Sakura took a deep breath to try and hold in the tears. "Appa…"

"I knew from the moment you came home, with dirt on your new clothes and your hair knotted with twigs and sticks and that Uzumaki monkey and the Uchiha's youngest boy following you like lost puppies, that I'd be in for it in the future. I should have killed that boy the moment he came to me asking for my permission to date you."

Sakura couldn't help but laugh at her father. "Appa..." She held his hands tightly. "Thank you."

Kizashi smiled and wiped a stray tear from his daughter's cheek. "You'll be alright."

Sakura smiled and wrapped her arms around her father's shoulders. "You're the best father a girl could ask for. You're more than enough."

Kizashi smiled and ran his hand through Sakura's hair, finally content in having his daughter back home. "Welcome back, Sakura."

"I'm home."

* * *

 **A/N: Editing is such a nightmare! I know I'm missing stuff, I can feel it! Please don't hate me :'(**

 **I'll be uploading the next few chapters soon, I'm going to try to get them out in multiples.**


	8. Chapter 7 Moving On

_**My New Boss**_

 _ **Chapter. 7**_

* * *

A day was not enough to spend with her parents, being with them, together again, reminded Sakura of how much she missed them and how she wished she lived closer so that she could see them every day. Their first morning back together was not as uncomfortable or as somber as it had been the night before, Sakura's father had seemed to have an extra pep in his step as he sat at the table and read his paper, drinking his coffee leisurely. Her mother was just finishing up making their breakfast, and though it pained Sakura, she knew by the evening she'd be having to leave to make it to work for the night shift. She was overwhelmed with such love and affection for her parents. It was as if she'd never left and she was a teenager again, spending a peaceful morning with her parents.

"Oh, Sakura, can you go to the market and grab some things for me? I already made you a list and everything, here's the money, it should be enough to cover the cost and with what's left you can buy yourself something nice if the need grabs you." Mebuki was shuffling around like a bat out of hell, cleaning the dishes and sorting through the cabinets all at once.

Sakura couldn't help but look around in confusion as she asked rather stupidly, "Am I missing something?"

Her mother waved her off and shook her head saying, "Oh, no, dear your father just has some business partners coming over for dinner tonight and it had completely slipped my mind that I needed to grab some things to make. I have a customer coming over to the shop today and I won't be able to have time to do it myself."

Sakura nodded to her mother's explanation and reached out for the list to scan it over, "You don't have to explain yourself. I've been meaning to get out and have a look around. I imagine the place has changed a lot over the years."

Kizashi grumbled in agreement, "Yes, though you'll still see a lot of familiar faces, even if the main structure has altered, it's still your childhood home."

Sakura smiled warmly at that. "I'm glad. Well, I'll be going then. I'll be back in a few, yeah." She smiled and waved, rejecting her mother's request to take the car. She felt like walking today, wanting to reacquaint herself with the quaint town that took up most of her childhood. The warm summer sun beat down on her back, cicadas buzzing in her ears as she spied children playing by the riverbank, reminding her of times when she and her friends would do the same.

It took her no time to get to the fresh market, the hustle and bustle of the early bird shoppers filling the small shops and stalls with loud chatter and shouts of discounts and on-sale items. She only hoped there was still decent enough amount of vegetables so she didn't have to go through a long spiel from her meticulously picky mother. She took a cursory glance over the list once more, feeling burdened by the amount of ridiculous things her mother wanted her to get. She should have made sure her mother wasn't asking the impossible before leaving. "Wah, she even asked for fresh salmon…" She shook her head in amusement before pocketing the list, knowing that it would take a while before she was to head to the fish market.

"Sakura-nii-chan!"

Her jade green eyes glided up to meet that of a beaming Satsuki, his hands waving as he dashed towards her at top speed. He had one of the brightest smiles plastered on his face and she was only just now noticing the melting ice-pop dripping down one of his hands and the delicious treat's remnants covering his mouth in red stickiness. Tripping a little over unbalanced feet he launched himself at her, little tiny arms wrapping around her kneecaps, nearly toppling her down on her butt.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, making sure they stayed firmly in place. She could feel the sticky wetness soak into the front of her shirt, but she couldn't bring herself to mind as she looked down at the excited face and bursting happiness as Satsuki tried to convey just how pleased he was with seeing her.

"Sakura-nii, Sakura-nii-chan!" He was bouncing on the balls of his feet, unable to articulate his words clearly. His chubby cheeks were flushed from the heat and he had perspiration tickling his forehead, hairs sticking to his skin along with the red mess that completely covered his mouth and chin. That didn't stop the warmness that filled her heart at the sight of the boy, nor the smile that lit up her face at how ecstatic he was. "Papa- Papa said you were here- and here you are!" He laughed happily, snuggling close even as his face dirtied her shirt more.

 _ **`This kid could kill with overwhelming cuteness.'**_

Sakura ran her fingers through the boy's hair, pushing his wet bangs off his face and poking his nose fondly, "Your right, here I am, I should have come and seen you sooner, hm?" Really, there was no possible way for her to be cruel to this sweet child, who literally had to have been an angel fallen from heaven. He was the epitome of happiness, innocence personified, really, and the fact that he seemed to favor her so much just made her heart melt. She didn't care if he wasn't hers. He had no control over the actions of his parents, nor had he been the cause between her and Sasuke's break-up. Of that she was certain. It wouldn't be in her to feel malice towards an innocent child who obviously cared for her more than words could describe.

"Papa and I were getting tomatoes! I don't really like them, they're gross and slimy but papa said that if I behaved he'd get me a treat and he bought an ice-cream- wah! Sakura-nii I got you all dirty! I'm sorry!" His endless babbles were hard to keep up with, but Sakura got the gist of it and she tried to calm down his worries by reassuring him she wasn't upset, and no she wasn't mad and no she wasn't going to disown him as her favorite person. The laugh bubbled out of her before she could stop it, her cheeks hurting just from looking at the beautiful child before her. If Sasuke had done one thing right in his life, it was raising Satsuki to be the person he was today.

Clutching her hands tightly as he leaned back on his heels, his left hand feeling sticky and warm against her own from when he had been holding the now fully melted ice-pop. She looked around for any signs of Satsuki's father, knowing wherever the five-year-old was, Sasuke was sure to be close by. And without having to look far, she spotted the black hair and broad shoulders as a tall, lean male walked through the crowd, getting closer and closer.

Their eyes locked for a brief moment, uncomfortableness settling in her stomach as she looked away and down at Satsuki. He was having conversation with himself, but he didn't seem to notice that she was only paying half of her attention to him, the other focused on making herself seem as casual as possible. She hoped she didn't appear as terrified as she actually was.

"Ne, ne Sakura-nii—Sakura-nii," It seemed as if Satsuki enjoyed saying her name more than forming actually sentences, but it was adorable and she could understand that he was a child and he was excitable at best. She rubbed his face reassuringly and focused her attention back on the boy, letting him know that he had her undivided attention.

"Ne, ne Satsuki-chan!" The beamed at each other and shared giggles as hugged her tight.

"Satsuki, how many times do I have to tell you not to run off. It's too crowded for you to be doing that here," Sasuke nodded in acknowledgment to Sakura, but focused on disciplining his son as the little boy whined about how he had seen Sakura and that he couldn't help it.

"Papa, I'm sorry. You told me Sakura-nii was visiting and I saw her, I just had to come and say hi!"

"And also ruin her shirt with your messy face, huh?" There was fondness in his voice as he rubbed at Satsuki's sticky cheek with a wet wipe that he seemed to pull out of nowhere, making the boy groan in distaste. "You're such a mess," that was a parent for you. Always be prepared.

Sakura looked around her, feeling left out as the father and child talked back and forth. Her eyes glanced over to a stall and she noticed the nice looking leeks her mother had requested. She saw a bunch that looked big and without any imperfections and reached her hand out to take it, startling when a much bigger, warmer hand fell on top of hers. She held back a distressed noise and snatched her hand away, looking up into a familiar cocky grin. "Genma?"

"Haruno, my, aren't you just a sight for sore eyes," the smirk turned into a warm smile as Genma took the leeks and handed them out to Sakura. "You had them first."

She took them without much complaint and tried not to blush at his wink. The elder male hadn't changed over the years, it seemed, he certainly looked a whole lot more handsome, if that was possible. Shiranui Genma had always been rather good looking, even if he was older. He was one of Kakashi's closest friends and back in the day you couldn't see one without the other unless Kakashi had been teaching a class. During her first few years in college before she left, she had bonded with Kakashi and his friends, going out for drinks and chatting over things that didn't seem important anymore.

She opened her mouth to say something when none other than Satsuki barreled into the back of her knees, his tiny arms locking and holding her legs in place as the rest of her fell forward, waving her arms in front of her frantically to find purchase of some sort. Large hands grabbed hold of her waist and her fingers dug into soft fabric that smelled of spring and musk, her face lighting up terribly as she realized Genma was holding her against him.

Sakura looked down at Satsuki, his face hidden from view as he clutched on to her for dear life, "Satsuki-chan, what's wrong?" She spared a glance at Sasuke and saw a blank face and unreadable eyes, he was frowning, though, and all she could think about was what she had done wrong now.

"Hey-a runt, good to see you! How's summer break?"

Genma had made sure Sakura was stable before he bent at his knees, affectionately rubbing Satsuki's hair.

Satsuki shuffled to reveal half his face, eyes wide and curious as he looked at the other male. "Shiranui-sensei, how do you know Sakura-nii?"

Sakura blanched and snapped her eyes at Genma. "Sensei?! Surely society hasn't deemed you fit enough to teach children?"

Genma's lip jutted out as he looked up at Sakura, "Ouch, that hurt Sakura, I thought we were friends?" He was being a sarcastic little jerk as he smirked back up at her, grabbing at the hem of her skirt and tugging on it playfully. She smacked his grabby hands away and scowled. "Ah, it's good to know you haven't changed a bit, just got more beautiful."

There was an itch at the back of her mind telling her Genma was openly flirting with her on purpose. It wasn't hard to figure out why either. Almost everyone knew her history with Sasuke, and she can only bet that Genma was reveling in the satisfaction of making Sasuke uncomfortable. "Uchiha," he nodded amicably to the other male, never taking his eyes off the pink haired beauty before him.

Sasuke was, of course, frowning but he nodded his head anyway, "Shiranui."

Satsuki wasn't saying anything as he looked between the two adults, something seemed to have registered within himself and he slowly moved away from Sakura without her noticing. He frowned, much like his father, a furrow forming on his brow. She looked behind her, finally noticing that Satsuki was no longer holding on to her, she noticed his forlorn expression and wondered what could have possibly made him look so defeated.

Sasuke, however, didn't know what relationship Sakura and Shiranui had between them, and he didn't feel the urge to stick around and find out. "Come on, Satsuki," he urged gently, his hand resting softly over Satsuki's soft hair, "We have to grab a few more things before we go see your grandparents."

Sakura flinched at the mere mention of Mikoto and Fugaku, her blood freezing and her heart pounding in a familiar way that usually brought upon horrific anxiety and fear. She wasn't hearing anything after that, it was like she completely blacked out. Going through the motions mechanically of saying goodbye to Satsuki and respectively telling Sasuke that she'd see him later at work. Their eyes met only briefly and she could see but not react to his silent question and obvious confusion at her sudden detachment and closed off state.

A hand placed itself comfortingly on the small of her back as Sasuke and Satsuki finally disappeared among the masses and she turned her head slightly to look at Genma. He smiled at her in understanding and pulled her close. "Want to join me in my shopping?"

She didn't know what made her agree. Maybe she had been feeling lonely and just needed a strong shoulder to lean on, figuratively, of course or, maybe it was the fact that she and Genma had always had that sort of bond where they could be next to each other and always understand what the other were thinking and feeling without even having to say anything. All she knew was that it felt good. It made the ache and weight in her chest settle and eventually go away.

* * *

When she finally walked back into her parents house, arms full and soaking wet from an unexpected summer shower, she had the brightest smile on her face, could feel it with how much her cheeks hurt and how sore her throat was from laughing for hours.

"Sakura, is that you, love?"

"Yes, Omma, I'm home and I've brought everything on your list." She kicked off her shoes, not caring as she stepped over the threshold, water trailing behind in her wake.

When Mebuki looked up from her stance at the stove her smile quickly dissolved into an indignant squawk as she saw her daughter ruining her perfectly clean floors. "Lord child, did I not tell you I had guests coming in today? Put the bags down and go get into some clean clothes!"

Sakura smiled sheepishly and hefted the bags on the table before wrapping her arms around herself, it was rather cold now that she was inside in her cool home. "Sorry, sorry- I'll go get changed."

"What's got you in such a good mood? You're smiling like that cat that got the canary." Mebuki looked suspicious, though she couldn't describe the feelings of how wonderful it was to see such a genuine smile on her daughter's face. It had been too long. "I'll make you something to eat for your break tonight before you leave."

Sakura nodded and quickly made her way to her bedroom."

She sniffed and wiped her face as she walked through the doorway, already peeling off her shirt and throwing it lazily to the floor. Her arms filled with goose-flesh as the A/C kicked on. She reached for one of her throw covers as she padded softly to her bag at the foot of her bed, immediately throwing a camisole over her head. She reached for a loose, yet, professional shirt that she could wear to work and be comfortable in, she left it unbuttoned as he looked around for some underwear and pants. She stood, letting the blanket fall to the floor in a heap as she shoved down her shorts and underwear, replacing them both with clean panties and a nice pair of slacks.

As a strike of lightning flashed through the sky, the force shaking her entire bedroom and illuminating it in white light. The storm was getting worse and dreaded she having to go through it on the bus as she went back to the city. She was busy making sure she had everything ready for when she did leave, checking around her bedside table for her phone and charger so she didn't end up leaving it and having to get a new one. The first thing that caught her eye was the picture frame placed innocently under her lamp. Nostalgia filled her and she sat heavily on her bed, her fingers shakily reaching out for the frame.

The photo was of her graduation from high school. Naruto had begged to take a picture with Sasuke and herself. Sasuke didn't like the idea, just for the simple fact he hated getting his picture taken- somehow his fan-girls always managed to get it and post it all over the internet. Naruto wouldn't take no for an answer and so he grabbed some unsuspecting bystander and ordered them to take a picture. Naruto's cheeky smile was contagious and both her and the blond found it hilarious that Sasuke was practically pouting as they took their picture.

Of course, as always when it came to Sasuke, Naruto was not happy and he demanded Sasuke do something other than frown in the next picture. Sasuke had only smirked and an unsuspecting Sakura had only wrapped her arms around his neck to get ready for the next picture. Naruto was standing in some kind of ghetto pose and right when the camera flashed Sasuke had grabbed Sakura's face and smacked his lips against her own. To say the least Naruto had not been happy and on the third try they were all satisfied with the outcome of the picture.

She gave a watery smile to the picture and placed her hand over their young faces.

" _I can't believe you actually graduated." Sasuke grumbled as Naruto whooped around his two friends like a moron, completely bouncing off the walls._

 _Sakura giggled and wrapped her arm around Sasuke's shoulders and kissed his cheek tenderly, finding Naruto's behavior beyond amusing. The blond was generally a hyperactive kid, but today he was extra excited and she couldn't help but feel giddy right along with him. "Now, now Sasuke, give Naruto a break. This is a big day for him. No one expected him to graduate, this a monumental moment!" She gave a flirtatious smile to her longtime boyfriend and rubbed his back as she leaned up for a kiss._

" _Awww, not cool Sakura-chan, not cool!" Naruto whined beside them, his arms crossing over his chest childishly._

 _Before Sasuke could return her affection right back, Naruto came bounding up to them with a stupid grin and his body slamming into both of them as he locked his arms around their necks. Sasuke scowled while Sakura just laughed and wrapped her arm around Naruto's middle. She wasn't affected in the least by their friend's interruption but Sasuke was outwardly seething, wanting to just throw Naruto into the schools' swimming pool, hoping the idiot would freeze to death._

" _Hey, hey let's take a picture!" The hand that was still wrapped around Sasuke's neck, squeezed and he unconsciously started choking Sasuke as he waved a camera in the air. The dark haired teen slammed his fist against the back of the blonde's head and reveled in the way he smacked into the concrete face first. Ah, that felt good. Sasuke smirked and rolled his shoulders as he wrapped his arm around Sakura's waist, pulling her flush against him._

 _The rosette pouted up at her boyfriend. "That wasn't very nice." She bent down to poke at Naruto's shoulder._

 _Sasuke shrugged. "What? You do it every day." He smirked at her dumbfounded expression and sidestepped her fist as it came close to bashing his head in._

" _Oi, Teme, what was that for?" Naruto stuck his tongue out at his friend._

 _Sasuke rolled his eyes and ignored the blond as he started jumping up and down in excitement as he grabs some random person and shoved the camera into his hands, ordering him to take a picture, completely recovering from his run in with the ground._

 _He stalked to Sakura's side. No one ever listened to him anymore; it was like his friends totally disregarded his opinion. "I still can't believe you graduated. Did you sleep with the teachers or something?"_

 _With a scandalized gasp Naruto turned to Sakura with a pout and watery puppy eyes. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and hissed. "Suck up," under his breath._

 _Naruto bared his teeth, "takes one to know one."_

 _Sakura just shook her head at their immaturity. "Alright you two, break it up." She placed her hands on each of their shoulders, pushing them away from the other so they wouldn't try to kill each other. "Now, now Sasuke, let's just take a nice photo, ne?" She smiled cutely at her boyfriend and Sasuke sighed as he acquiesced._

" _Whatever, let's get this over with," begrudgingly, stuffing one hand into his pockets as the other wrapped around her waist, and held back a glare when he felt Naruto wrap his arm around her also. As the countdown started, Sakura was wearing a bright smile, her face starting to hurt from how happy she was._

Sakura shook her head of the memory and looked down at the innocent photo once again. She had a lot of pictures of their childhood scattered around in her room and she wondered how her mother could keep them there as if nothing had changed. With a sigh she set the frame back down and sat up at the sound of a knock and her mom walked in with a mug of what Sakura figured to be piping hot tea. "Thank you, Omma."

"I see you're all ready to go. I'm going to miss you." Mebuki cupped her daughter's cheek and rubbed her thumb gently over Sakura's soft skin. "You going to tell me who has brought that beautiful smile back on your face?"

Sakura blushed saying, "What makes you think it was a person?"

Her mother laughed loudly and took no time in turning that caress into a pinch as she yanked hard on Sakura's cheek. "First and foremost I will always be your mother- which means I know everything."

Sakura laughed and moved away before the abusive woman decided to pinch her anywhere else. "Honestly," she shook her head, taking one last look at the old photo before answering, "I spent the day with Genma, well, more like we shopped together. It's been a long time since I've had such pleasant company. It felt nice."

Mebuki stayed silent and reached to run her hand through her daughter's soft, pink hair, contemplative. "Shiranui? I see, he always did fancy you. I can see it. I here the children at the academy really like him. The mothers are always fawning over him and gossiping, you should grab your chance while you still can."

Sakura groaned, red immediately alighting her face. "Omma, please don't go there. We're just friends."

Mebuki shook her head with a snort. "Please, we're both adults here and I can definitely see the obvious attraction to the man. If anything the past seven years has only made him even more attractive, the fact that he's single and good with kids definitely puts him at the top of my list of Men-I'd-introduce-to-my-daughter. Even when he's not here he's got you smiling like a loon." She touched the apples of Sakura's cheeks, emphasizing her point as they blossomed fully in red, from another smile that Sakura couldn't seem to will away. Not like she wanted to.

She couldn't help the bubble of laughter that spilled from her lips, a giddiness filling her that she hadn't felt in a long time. "It was definitely a shock to hear he's a teacher. Satsuki's no less. He used to gloat about his bachelorhood every time we went out for drinks in junior year."

"Time changes, so do people. Even people like Genma get lonely and wish for a more permanent status in relationships. He's very nice, he's always helping me with my groceries and asking about you. The only embarrassing thing was I myself didn't have much to tell him."

Sakura flushed in shame and looked down. "I'm so sorry."

"Now, now," Mebuki tutted, shaking her head and raising her daughters chin. "None of that, you're too happy to be thinking about what's in the past. The most important thing is that you're happy- that's all I've ever wanted for you Sakura."

Sakura blinked away the tears that wanted to come and wrapped her arms tight around her mother's middle. "Thank you, omma."

Mebuki returned the embrace and kissed Sakura's forehead. "Promise me that if the chance arises, you won't let a chance slip for where you can truly be happy."

"I promise."

* * *

" _Sasuke, what's going on? Why'd you call me so late?" Sakura asked as she walked over to her boyfriend, who was standing under a street lamp, his hair and clothes completely soaked. She frowned, looking worried as she was now standing feet apart from him. She placed her umbrella over them both and then she reached out to rub his frozen cheek, trying not to look hurt when he flinched away._

 _She had been at home just about to go to sleep, being as it was almost one in the morning, and then Sasuke had called, telling her that she needed to meet him as soon as possible. She didn't hesitate in agreeing and it took her no time to get fully dressed and in her car. Now, here she was, wishing she had stayed home, because the look and aura her beloved was giving off was making her weary and slightly scared. "What's wrong?" She asked in a hoarse whisper._

 _Usually she could read Sasuke, but now it was like he'd put a giant wall between them. She knew something was definitely wrong, unconsciously she started to fiddle with the ring that was nestled around her finger._

 _Sasuke just stared at her blankly as she shifted around nervously. He knew she was sensing that something was wrong. Not wanting to beat around the bush he told her what was on his mind. "It's over."_

 _Pink eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she willed her heart not to drop and jump to conclusions, because she didn't know what he meant by "It's over". She swallowed thickly. At least, that's what she tried to reassure herself. "I-I'm not following?"_

" _Don't make this any harder on yourself than it has to be, Sakura. You're not stupid." He said coldly, taking a step back as she tried to reach for his hand._

 _Green eyes widened and tears immediately started to pool. "You're breaking up with me?" She willed the traitorous salty liquid to go away. "Why?" She asked softly, the hand that was holding up her umbrella falling deftly beside them. The rain was already starting to soak through her clothes._

 _Sasuke grunted and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Do you seriously need an explanation? I'm breaking up with you; I don't love you anymore," he scoffed. "If I ever did. Simple as that." He emphasized and scowled at her for even making him have to explain himself. "Don't be annoying by asking me stupid questions."_

 _Sakura narrowed her eyes, a lone tear trailing down her cheek. "Are you really saying this to me? If you wanted to break up with me that's fine, but you don't have to treat me like trash!" Her voice started to grow louder as she stepped closer to his figure, she raised her hand and her ring glinted from the streetlamp. "And what about this, why would you give this to me if you were going to break up with me not a month later?!" She pulled it off and threw it at him, it bounced off his chest and landed on the ground with a sharp `clink'._

 _He didn't bother to pick up the object nor did he bother to grace her with a response of his own. He just wanted to get this over with and be on his way._

" _Stop looking at me like tha- There's someone else, isn't there?" She suddenly said, the fight leaving her just as quickly as it came, her mind and body were starting to go completely numb._

 _Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm getting married. She's a nice girl, nice family, and she's someone my parents actually like." He stated, pointedly looking at her when he mentioned his parents._

 _Something broke in Sakura at that moment, her mouth fell open and her eyes grew wide as she flinched at his words. The next second Sakura lunged at Sasuke, her fists pounding at his chest as she screamed curses and all kinds of profanity, and he just stood there letting her beat his chest. "How could you do this to me?! How?! ANSWER ME!" She cried out in utter heartbreak and collapsed on to the ground, her hands holding tightly to the arms that had a hold on her waist._

 _Sasuke didn't say anything else, just pried her hands off of him and simply walked away, leaving her there sobbing and broken on the wet ground. He stopped and slightly turned back to look at her over his shoulder. "Don't you have any pride? Don't sit there and wallow in self-pity. Just because I'm breaking up with you doesn't mean it's the end of the world. You're so pathetic; I'm doing myself a favor."_

 _Sakura bit her lip, blood pooling at the bite. She choked out a gasp and her hand flew up to cover her mouth to stop the oncoming wave of nausea._

 _Sasuke just walked away, not bothering with her anymore. He was done and that was it._

 _Green eyes watched in sorrow as the love of her life walked away, leaving her alone, her heart left shattered in pieces on the ground at his wake. She hiccupped and her sight became blurry as more tears streamed down her porcelain cheeks along with the harsh, ice cold rain beating on her back and down her face. "But you are my world." She whispered in reply to his last words to her._

 _She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there on her knees, she barely grabbed her bearings as her phone rang. Sakura shakily answered her phone as tears continued to pour down her grief stricken face. "H-Hello?"_

" _Sakura," the voice of Gaara, her cousin said, his voice firm but soft. He was speaking Korean; he only ever did that when he was worried. "Where the heck are you? Your parents just called me telling me that they went to go check up on you and you were gone. Are you with Uchiha again?"_

 _At the sound of His name, Sakura sobbed into the receiver. Gaara hadn't missed it. "Sakura, what's going on? Are you hurt, where are you- I'll kill him if he laid a hand on you without your consent." There was a definite growl following his deceleration and she could hear Kankurou's shout of anger._

" _G-Gaara." Was all she could manage to get out._

 _The red head managed to find out where she was exactly, though it was terribly hard, especially with the way she was crying, but in no time after he hung up; he grabbed Kankurou and they had made it to Sakura's side in 10 minutes. Being as Gaara wasn't one for affection or any type of emotion in general, Kankurou had stepped up and wrapped Sakura in his arms, trying to comfort the inconsolable girl as much as he could, this was just as awkward for him as it would have been for his brother. The rain wasn't helping the situation much either._

 _The red head looked around them, the malice coming off of him in waves. When he saw no one remotely familiar he glanced back down to Sakura. "What did he do?" He asked, watching as she just started to cry harder into his brother's chest. He sighed and crouched down about to place his hand on her shoulder in some awkward act of comfort and paused shortly as something caught his attention in the corner of his eye. Gaara's eyes widened impeccably as he reached and grabbed the familiar ring. It all clicked then. "He broke up with you." The disbelief was obvious in his voice and Kankurou was gaping like a fish as he stared at the object held between his little brother's fingers._

 _Sakura wasn't saying anything; the tears were still flowing down her cheeks but the loud sounds of her sorrow was now replaced by soft whimpering. Kankurou took no time in lifting her in his arms and carried her to his car, Gaara not too far behind calling up their sister to let her know that they were going to need her as soon as they got home. His hand still clenched around the dainty object._

She woke from her daze as the bus came to a jerking halt, her body moving with the motion and had just enough time to look out the window to see that she made it to her destination without even realizing it. "Wait! I'm getting off!" She grabbed her bag and her doctor's coat, throwing it over her arm as she rushed out of the side door, skipping that last two steps and jumping out on the sidewalk. She checked her wristwatch to make sure she wasn't late and quickened her steps.

She shuffled a bit as she pulled on her coat, moving her bag from one hand and to the other as she put her arms through the sleeves. She fixed her collar and felt at her pocket to make sure she had her badge and pen. When she felt nothing she stopped and looked down, cursing herself for forgetting. She reached into the side pocket on her bag and pulled out her phone, pressing the #1 for speed dial, placing the receiver to her ear. She waited a moment and relaxed as Ino's voice filtered through the ear piece. "Pig."

" _Hey, forehead, how'd your trip to your parents go?"_

"It was fine," she moved around the crowd of people, making sure not to hit them with her bag as she went. "I actually have a favor to ask; can you bring me my badge and security key-card from my room?"

" _Yeah, of course. How'd your parents react?"_

"As you could imagine- they weren't at all happy, I felt for sure like my dad was going to disown me."

" _Really? Wow, I expected that from your mom, but not your dad."_

"Well, I couldn't really blame him, you know? I haven't really been the best daughter."

" _Yeah, but it's not like you saw any other way out. He at least understood that, right?"_

"Yeah, we had a long talk and now everything is good, perfect, actually."

" _That's great!"_

"There's also the fact that Sasuke and Satsuki moved in next door to my parents and that Shiranui Genma and I have reacquainted."

" _What?! Say no more, I'm on my way to the hospital right now- I want details Sakura, details!"_

Before Sakura even had a chance to say anything else the mocking sound of a dial tone rung in her ear. She sighed and placed her phone back in her pocket, wondering why exactly her friend had to be so dramatic.

* * *

Ino's nose crinkled as she looked around, her six inch heels clicked against the tiled floor as she walked down the halls of her best friend's job. Here she was, walking confidently down the halls of Konoha's most prestigious hospital. She whistled as she saw how expensive the place looked. She never made it a hobby to visit the chemical smelling building, but she had to admit that it sure did live up to its title. The eye candy wasn't all that bad either. She smiled flirtatiously as a male doctor winked at her as he passed by.

She hummed under her breath, not feeling bad in the least, she was confident in her relationship with Shikamaru and she loved him more than anything in the world. And just because she was forever taken did not mean she couldn't appreciate what was out there. Speaking of her loving boyfriend, she hadn't heard from him since she last seen him at the airport and she wondered if everything was okay. She didn't doubt that he wasn't busy, even for a lazy-bum, but Shikamaru wasn't ever one to not call her, especially when he was out of town.

As she walked to Sasuke's office she noticed that the door was cracked and she could hear one voice that sounded deep and annoyed and another that sounded extremely loud and obnoxious. She could immediately tell who he was. As quiet as she possibly could be she nudged the door open and peaked her head through, the sight that greeted her was quite amusing. Naruto and Sasuke seemed to be in a heated discussion and Sakura was watching them with an unreadable expression. She looked to be in a daze and the blonde couldn't help but worry about her friend.

She cleared her throat and caught her best friend's attention first, she smiled at the rosette and waved her manicured hand at her and grinned over at the other blond and his dark haired companion. "Hey moron, it's been a while." She marched herself in without being asked and she sauntered over Sakura. She tried not to laugh at the look of surprise Sakura gave her as she made herself welcome.

Naruto couldn't sport a bigger grin than he had at that moment. "Hey piglet, I see your personality is the same as ever." He pulled her into one of his famous bear hugs and she had no qualms in reciprocating.

Sasuke had a permanent frown marred on his face. She guessed it was because she was being so rude.

Ino eyed him curiously before nodding in acknowledgment, not really feeling the need to say much else considering they had just seen each other a few days ago. "Sasuke, good to see you again. I never got to thank you for what you did for Sakura." She bowed politely and then focused her attention on her best friend, handing out the missing access badge. "You've been so forgetful lately, forehead." Sakura glared obviously, Ino wrapped her arm around Sakura and smiled sheepishly. The wheels had started turning in her head and before she could stop herself the words came out. "So how does one go about getting a job here?"

All three heads turned to stare at the blonde female. She looked back at them, a serious look in her eyes. Sakura gaped and elbowed her friend in confusion.

 _`What the heck is she doing?'_ Sakura asked herself, not knowing what to do. Ino was only supposed to drop off her badge and then leave. But apparently, the blonde had other plans.

Sasuke and Naruto exchanged glances, and the onyx eyed male folded his arms and leaned back against the front of his desk. Both looked contemplative, but Naruto was the first to speak. "Why, you looking for a job?"

Ino nodded and ran a hand through her hair. "I went to school to be a Doctor. I have a degree and everything." She said, looking smug. "My parents made sure I was a complete failure, you know."

Sasuke arched a brow, looking impressed. "What field?"

She thought about it for a moment and then shrugged. "I have a doctorate and specialize as a medical assistant and emergency medicine."

Both males turned back to each other and started to whisper back and forth, they seemed to be in a deep conversation when Sakura had turned to her friend in annoyance. "What are you doing, Ino?"

Ino shrugged and smiled, "I thought since I don't have a job and my skills are just wasting away; I might as well just suck it up and do what I'm good at. Plus, I can watch over you from now on and make sure you don't do anything stupid." She narrowed her eyes dangerously at her friend, giving a not so subtle look at Sasuke before pointedly glaring at her.

Sakura scowled, whispering furiously, "I don't need a babysitter! You can't work here- you hate hospitals and you hate even the sight of blood, let alone having your hands buried in it. Don't force yourself to do something you hate just because you want to protect me. Things are different now," she ignored Ino's look of askance and turned back to see that Sasuke and Naruto were still talking. "I'll tell you later. Now hurry before they actually start to consider you." She pushed her friend forward slightly.

Ino shook her head and stood her ground, heels digging into the sisal rug. "No, my decision is final. If I can, I'm going to work here." She hissed back resolutely, standing firm in her decision.

Sakura frowned and tried hard not to shove Ino out the door and lock her out. She loved her best friend, she really did, but having her around while Sasuke was there was not a good mix. Especially if and when she found out what happened between them a few nights ago. Sasuke and Ino may be on speaking terms now, but once she finds out Sasuke kissed her and left her feeling miserable and confused, the blonde was surely going to be wanting someone's head on a wooden spike.

Sasuke cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of both girls. "I want to look at your transcripts and resume first, before I decide anything. Most likely you'll be working with Naruto, or when the E.R needs someone we'll send you there. If we decide to hire you that is." He finished, and then told Naruto, none too gently, to get out of his office or he'd never be able to procreate again.

Ino just smiled and followed the male's example, waving at them both and kissing Sakura on the cheek muttering a, "I'll be waiting in the cafeteria," before she rushed out. Sakura pouted and tried not to look petulant. Why was it things never went her way? She slumped into her chair behind her desk and made as if she was doing something productive when actually all she was doing was putting things down on her grocery list. Up until now, Naruto had been there talking with Sasuke about some of their nurses. Apparently they were starting to slack off when it came to preparation in the surgical area.

You did not screw with Naruto when he was in surgeon mode, and everyone knew not to mess with his lab or he'd throw you out the window. The fact that he was actually starting to complain about his staff, was reason enough for Sasuke to agree in having a meeting with the nurses and maybe set Naruto up with a new team. Of course Ino would have impeccable timing when they were just going through decisions on hiring new faculty. Naruto would also feel more relaxed having someone he knew being there as his direct assistant.

Ino and Sakura never went to medical school together, Sakura had finished up her studies in Suna when Ino's parents forced their daughter into taking up a career in medicine. Of course, Ino being Ino, hated even the notion. At the time, though, she hadn't been dating Shikamaru and was still living under her parents' thumbs. They made Ino miserable, forcing her to take more classes and dragging her to banquets and meetings and shoving her into arranged marriage dinners. When Ino met Shikamaru in one of her literature classes they had hit it off in a way a cat and a dog would upon running across each other.

It was like a fairytale come to life. The constant bickering had led to some pretty strong sexual tension that imploded on them during a project. Ino quit her own internship right after graduating and obtaining her degree, moving in with Shikamaru and disassociating herself from her parents. She hadn't looked back and she never regretted it. Ino always says, "the rest was history" with a gleam in her eye and a fond smile. Shikamaru sighs every time the story comes up, but it's not mean and impersonal, the way he looks at Ino is the way he views a nice comfortable couch or a pillow. And that's saying something. It was adorable in an annoying sort of way. The two were gross and always all over each other. Sakura had the unfortunate knack for walking in on them in compromising positions.

A soft smile formed on her lips as she thought about how happy her friend had become ever since meeting the lazy know-it-all, and then it she frowned as she looked up at Sasuke. He wasn't paying her any attention, thankfully, but he looked exhausted and had been ignoring her blatantly all evening.

They had both ran into each other earlier, while she was making her way to her bus stop, both heading to work. She was walking out of her parents' house, hair a mess and shirt still half buttoned when Sasuke walked out, a half awake Satsuki cradled in his arms and a shoulder bag slung over his shoulders. Their greetings to each other had been awkward and uncomfortable, Satsuki had been too sleepy to ease the tension and they both departed with quipped words and stiff backs.

When he asked her to do something upon her arrival to the office; she'd do so with a nod of acknowledgment and some, one worded answers. She knew how to keep things strictly professional. She had already humiliated herself enough around Sasuke and she didn't want to keep the cycle going. It wasn't like Sasuke was complaining anyway; he was ignoring her just as much as she was ignoring him. Though, she couldn't understand why. Ever since they had saw each other at the market things had been tense. It certainly didn't make things better when Genma had walked her home and Sasuke had been getting something from his car. To say things had been tense was an understatement, the two males seemed to be having a silent death match with their eyes, but she couldn't fathom what had been going on.

She tried to get Genma to tell her what all the tension was about, but he just skimmed over the question like it was nothing and wrapped his arms around her in hug, telling her he'd definitely come to the city to visit and that she shouldn't be a stranger. He even kissed her on the cheek, which and bloomed her face like a cherry, but left her smiling all the same. She liked Genma, it was easy and comfortable whenever they talked and she didn't feel like she had to explain herself while around him. He didn't question her motives or sanity for returning and actually complimented her for being brave enough to do so. She couldn't describe the feeling she had upon knowing someone didn't think her a masochist for coming back.

"Sakura-san."

As soon as she heard her name, her head snapped up in Sasuke's direction. She tightened her grip on her pen, trying to appear as normal as possible. "Yes, Uchiha-san?"

"I'd like to apologize for my behavior Friday night. I had no right and I have no excuse for why I did what I did. Believe me when I tell you that I was not trying to take advantage of you in your fragile state."

Sakura gaped openly at her ex-boyfriend; she was not expecting an apology. She just assumed that he would act like it never happened and totally avoid having a conversation with her about it altogether. _`Seems he's matured in some aspects.'_ She let a small smile grace her lips and she shook her head. She'd give him that. She needed to be mature too. "It's fine, Uchiha-san..." She fumbled nervously with her hands and looked away from Sasuke's intense eyes that seemed to be piercing right through her. "We were both not in our right minds that night, so we'll just let bygones be bygones and forget it ever happened." She gave a reassuring smile and went as if to go back to her work.

Sasuke frowned slightly, not really knowing why he felt disappointed at her obvious brush off. He knew that nothing was going to happen between them, but he still felt like they should talk about what Naruto had told him. "That's not all." He stated, grabbing her attention again. "I think we should talk about..." He trailed off, noticing her eye color start to darken. "Everything." He finished lamely.

Sakura blinked, wondering what he was talking about. "I'm sorry, I don't think I understand?"

"You were my girlfriend once." He stated, clarifying his meaning, "I've been remembering things. About us… We had dated a while back, correct?"

Sakura swallowed and she squeezed her hand into a fist. "Yes."

Sasuke nodded. "Can you tell me what happened? Why we broke up? Maybe it will help me remember something."

Sakura growled and willed herself not to lash out at the oblivious, ignorant man. "No, I'm sorry, but I can't talk about this with you." She held her hand up to stop him from protesting. "Trust me, Sasuke." She said, looking him straight in the eye, dropping all formalities without even realizing it. "It's a good thing you don't remember me. This is what you wanted in the first place." She exhaled deeply and glanced towards the clock, ignoring his shocked expression; she raised herself from her desk and excused herself with a short bow and a clipped goodbye.

* * *

Finding Ino was easy enough, she was obviously the one surrounded by every male nurse and surgeon alike—not paying them any mind of course, her attention was on her phone, an adorable pout on her plush lips as she stared at the screen.

Sakura shook her head in amusement as she walked closer to the table. Ino must have sensed her presence, because soon as the blonde looked up her eyes immediately fell on Sakura and she waved her over excitedly. "Over here, Sakura," she turned towards the men crowding her table and must have told them to go away because they all sighed and groaned, walking away in nothing more than defeat.

"I swear, I can't go anywhere with you," Sakura teased, sitting down on the chair closest to Ino.

Ino sighed and rested her chin on her open palms, "It's not like I can help it, when I tell them to go away they just get even more determined. I find it better to just let them get it out of their systems and then dismiss them."

" _ **She has it so easy…"**_

Sakura coughed and cleared her throat, "Getting back to more important things, what was that stunt you pulled back there?"

"Come on, Sakura, only a small part of my reasons have anything to do with you. The other is self-preservation." Ino fiddled with the lid of her coffee cup, looking down at the table morosely.

Sakura reached for Ino's hand and squeezed saying, "Did something happen, why are you looking like that?"

Ino inhaled sharply and tucked her chin into her chest, her long blonde locks falling over her face. "It's Shika… He's being very distant; I just sent him another text and he finally responded—he hasn't been talking to me at all since he's been gone. He was very evasive and unresponsive, and I don't just mean with answering my calls or messages."

That was surprising, Shikamaru was a lot of things but to openly avoid and ignore Ino was one thing he'd never done before. He above all things respected Ino, and would never do anything to intentionally hurt her. "He's been gone for almost a week now… Do you know what's going on?"

The blonde shook her head and bit her lip. "He didn't tell me much about his assignment, all I know is that he's in Suna with Jiraiya doing research on their next book. We were fine before, I don't understand what I did. You think I'm over thinking things?" The desperation in her blues eyes were palpable.

Sakura had never seen such a look on her friend before, and she could tell that this was really affecting her best friend. "He's never done anything like this before," Ino nodded, fingers trembling as she closed her eyes. "Have you tried to talk to him? Like, really talk to him?"

"He tells me I'm just seeing things and thinking too much—What's that supposed to even mean? We've never gone this long without truly talking to each other, and a man should always want to know how his woman is doing—especially when they're apart." Ino's eyes trembled with tears and furiously wiped them away. She huffed and slammed her phone face down on the table, shoving it away. "Whatever, if he doesn't want to talk, then neither do I. Tell me what's been going on with you, I've been dying to know since you told me about meeting Genma."

Ino was smiling, but Sakura has known her friend long enough to know a fake one when she saw one. She didn't want to push the subject if Ino didn't want to, Sakura was confident that when Ino was ready to talk about what was bothering her then she'd be there to support her. "Well, I guess I should first tell you that Sasuke had kissed me last Friday," she drew swirls into the tabletop mindlessly.

There was a long pause before Ino slammed her hands on the table, eyes furious. "He did what?!"

Sakura held up her hand to stop Ino from making spectacle of herself. "Before you say anything, Sasuke wasn't in his right mind when he'd done it."

Ino scoffed and shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest she growled at Sakura, "Is that just his excuse for everything now? He's okay to hurt you and do things just because he's brain damaged?! That's bullshit Sakura, and you know it! Why the hell didn't you tell me this that night?"

Sakura rubbed her temples, "It's not like I can really do anything about it—and don't think for one second that I condone any of his actions!" She ran a hand through her hair thinking, and then shook the thought away and continued on, "I didn't want to talk about it—I wanted to forget it. I just needed to get away, you know, but from what I told you before, Sasuke had recently moved in to the vacant house next to my parents." She sure did have the worst luck.

"What the hell? How does that even happen?" Ino couldn't hold back the look of utter bewilderment as she stared at the table. "So, okay, I understand there had to have been some awkwardness, but what about you and Genma? You hadn't seen him since that rather scandalous date in Suna." She winked with a lecherous smile.

"Yeah, no, that's not how it was—at all. And I'd hardly call takoyaki and chicken skewers in downtown Suna as "scandalous" date- it wasn't even a date." She threw up her hands in exasperation.

Ino snorted disbelievingly and shook her head, "Whatever Forehead, say what you will—that man has been in love with you for years."

Sakura groaned and slammed her head against her folded forearms. "Please don't say something like that. I already have to deal with my mother throwing him in my face."

"Good!" Ino exclaimed, she slammed her hand on the table, making Sakura jump and raise her head. "Listen to me, Sakura, you've got to move on," she held up her hand when Sakura opened her mouth to argue. "Don't go there, I know you—I know that you still love Sasuke, no matter how hard you try to deny it. I see it in the way you look at him. Genma is a good guy, maybe you should see this reunion as a new chance at happiness?"

Sakura could only gape and stare at her best friend. She was utterly lost for words, but really what could she say to that? Deep down she knew it was the truth. It wasn't like she could help it, though, Sasuke had always been a major part of her life. And probably always will be. She supposed it was true about what people said. First loves never did last.

Ino read her expression and exhaled softly, "Just think about, okay?"

Sakura could only nod and offer a small, wan smile.

* * *

 _Sasuke's hands closed into fists as he leaned more into the girl, his lips moving every which way against her pliant ones. They were outside her house, returning from Itachi's funeral. He was only going to walk her to her door, give her a kiss and then head back home and wallow in his own misery, but when she looked at him with those glassy eyes; he couldn't control himself. All the emotions that had been burdening him since he found out Itachi had died, had all came out and he had pushed her hard against her door and attacked her mouth with uninhibited need, his arms on either side of her head as he placed them against her door._

 _She had kissed him back with just as much force and he couldn't bring himself to pull away, even when the need for oxygen left him dizzy. He just continued to kiss her, one of his hands had traveled to her hair and he pushed her head to the side and angled his mouth to fit better against hers and pulled her further against him as his other arm snaked around her waist and wrapped the limb tightly across her back. He seemed to have swallowed her whole with how his bigger body just completely surrounded hers._

 _He forcefully broke away from her mouth, their faces inches apart and he sucked in much needed air and then just as quickly he was roughly kissing her again, a small noise coming from her throat as he tangled his hand into her hair and pulled her head back as his mouth pulled and nipped at her lower lip._

 _She was breathing heavily from her nose and she was muttering against his mouth, her hands pushing at his chest to get him to stop, but he was too distracted. She groaned and tried to pull her head away, but Sasuke's grip on her hair made it clear that she wasn't going anywhere. "S-Shas-uke." She said brokenly, his mouth unrelenting as he pulled at her lip, sucking it into his mouth. She closed her eyes and without meaning to started to kiss him back again, taking the initiative this time and she angled his jaw between her hands and cocked it to the side, her mouth surrounding his, her toes hurting from how she had to stand on them just so she could reach him._

 _Somehow he had noticed her struggle and his arms wrapped around her and she felt herself raise off the ground, her feet were dangling in the air and now she was slightly higher against her boyfriend, her head angled down and his head craned up. She wrapped his head in her arms, her mouth moving against his roughly. She was never a gentle kisser and neither was he. She especially liked running her hand through his soft hair._

 _She had to mentally slap herself when she realized that he still hadn't let up and had distracted her again with his amazing mouth. With new determination she gave him a small apologetic nibble before she took his upper lip and bit as hard as she could. He grunted in pain and yanked his head away from her, his eyes flashing in anger and annoyance, his lip already starting to bruise and he could taste the blood forming. "What the hell?!" He ran his thumb over his lip and narrowed his eyes at her dangerously as he set her back on the ground._

 _She ignored him for a moment, trying to get her bearings as she leaned against her door once more. She rested a hand over her chest and took deep breaths. He had utterly and completely left her breathless. That had to have been one of the hottest kisses they ever shared and she wished it had been under better circumstances. She knew she had probably hurt Sasuke more than physically when she bit him. She could see the subdued dejection in his eyes and she immediately rectified the situation by wrapping herself around his body, his arms hanging at his sides, her hands barely touched at his back, he was so big. She kissed his jaw and looked up at him with sparkling, apologetic eyes._

" _I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun, but that was the only way I could get you to stop." She stated, rubbing his arms in a gentle, repeated motion._

 _Sasuke scowled as he looked down at her. "Why did you stop in the first place?"_

 _The teen rolled her eyes. "Because, you were letting your frustration out on me. I doubt you wouldn't appreciate me passing out on you from lack of oxygen now would you? Not everyone has your strong swimmer lungs babe." She giggled at his look of contempt and reached to pull his head back down to peck his lips and then she moved down to kiss his chin. "It's okay Sasuke." She whispered softly; she felt him tense from under her hands and she moved them until they were pressing against the pressure points in his neck, feeling them release all the pent up stress._

 _Sasuke moved them forward until they were against the house again, but now his head was buried against her neck and shoulder and his arms were moving up and down against her hips. He willed himself to focus on the girl before him instead of the unrelenting guilt in his heart. He released a shuddered breath as her fingers pressed a certain part in his neck and he flinched away without meaning to. "Don't." He said tightly._

 _She shushed his anxiety and she left that one spot alone. She knew how certain parts of the human body stored certain emotions and feelings, and apparently she found that one spot on Sasuke. She wasn't one to see her dear boyfriend in pain so she slid her hands to his shoulder blades and kneaded the tight muscle, feeling smug when she felt him relax again. "You want to come inside?" She knew it was late and her parents would probably start to come out and see what the holdup was, but she knew they would understand if she asked them for Sasuke to stay for a little while longer. "They won't mind." She muttered against his neck reassuringly._

 _Sasuke shook his head, denying her request. "No, I should get home. I don't want to leave mother alone for much longer. She needs me."_

 _She understood where he was coming from. He had started to develop a sense of duty when it came to his parents now that Itachi died and he didn't like being away from his mother for too long. She was slowly but surely starting to go off the deep end and Sasuke didn't want to go through another loss. "I know Sasuke," she whispered, pulling him impossibly close, his face resting against the side of hers. "But I think you need me more."_

 _He chuckled against her cheek and she smiled at his amusement. "This is true." He said with a nod. "But I think I'll be fine without you for one night." He pulled away and held her at arm's length, his hands cupping her jaw. "I'll come pick you up for school, okay?" He told her, letting his hands slide down her arms before he released her completely, feeling smug at her dreamy state._

 _She nodded and closed her eyes as he kissed her on the lips again. They opened slowly and she shook her head when she noticed him already at his car. She always found it amazing how he could make her go into a daze when he kissed her. She lost seconds of her life when he did that. She sighed and waved goodbye as he watched her walk into her house._

Sasuke groaned, body folding in on itself as he grabbed at his hair, his head nearly blinding him from the pain. Black spots marred his vision and his head swam as if he were floating, ears ringing and body trembling. He felt more than just a simple headache form, biting his lip to hold back the scream as he fell against his desk. The second the flashes started was the second everything in him throbbed and ached with an excruciating pain. Images; memories; forgotten moments of his life blinked by as if he were watching a picture show. He couldn't make sense of anything, not what he was seeing, not with what he was feeling—all he could feel was pain. He groaned with another painful jolt as stabbing jibes pounded into his skull. "Oh god,"

"Sasuke?!" A distant voice said, sounding worried and Sasuke had trouble distinguishing who the voice belonged to. But then familiar soft hands, that felt cool against his heated and clammy skin, cupped his face and rubbed at his temples, pushing back his sweaty bangs. His body unconsciously leaned against the warmth that permeated off the figure in waves. He groaned again and pushed his face against their stomach, willing the pain to go away, no, he was begging it to.

He inhaled air and shuddered as the pain started to dissipate, slowly. He finally gained enough sense to pull away and look up at the figure who was gently cradling his head. He blinked as a blurred pink and green blob scattered across his vision and then he closed his eyes and opened them after a moment. The first thing he saw was the genuine look of concern etched on Sakura's face as she rubbed her thumb against his cheek softly. "Sasuke?" She asked gently, looking worried, her eyes staring into his and leaning down to search his face for any sign that might tell her what had just happened.

Sasuke inhaled sharply as their breaths mingled and their noses almost touched. She didn't seem to mind the proximity, but she didn't just have a mental breakdown either. Sasuke shakily raised his eyes to hers and he saw that hers had just flickered up at that moment also and their gazes locked. Before he could gain enough of his bearings back to stop himself from doing something he knew he'd regret- he closed the remaining distance between them, his lips moving against hers fiercely. Desperately. He felt like a man starved and couldn't find reason within himself to stop.

God, something was really wrong with him.

* * *

 **A/N: This came out rather fast, wouldn't you say? I'm very pleased with this chapter, I did a lot of editing and a few adjustments to the original story-line. You have asked and I have heard- Genma has always held a special place in my heart and I hope I haven't added him in any of the previous chapters because I'm too lazy to go back and look. If you see any inconsistencies please let me know so I can go back and edit it. My brain is muddled and I have no idea what's going on.**

 **Your reviews have really helped me and I love all of your support. Thank you so much every one for continuing to be with me on this long journey. I would like to send a special thank you to a couple guest reviewers who defended me and reassured me over a few hateful comments. All of you are so nice and supportive and I just love you all! Please continue to stick with me and look forward to what's coming next!**


	9. Chapter 8 Spine Breaker

_**My New Boss**_

 _ **Chapter. 8**_

* * *

Sakura immediately distanced herself from Sasuke, her hands shoving him away by his shoulders. She was panting and her eyes were wide in disbelief, unable to fully comprehend Sasuke's actions. He'd kissed her. Again! On the inside she was freaking out and about ready to bolt and run away and never come back, but then she realized that Sasuke had a firm grip on her wrist despite the fact that he looked completely out of it.

"Sasuke," she said calmly, the space between her brows wrinkled, her jaw locking and teeth gnashing together. "Why are you doing this?" She asked desperately, grabbing the hand that wouldn't let her go and nearly breaking his fingers to get him to release her, but it was still no use; he wasn't listening, nor paying her any attention. It was as if he was in some sort of catatonic state.

Sasuke groaned and held his head, finally dropping her wrist and nearly falling out of his chair. She dropped to her knees to help him, not wanting him to fall and hurt himself more. He didn't know what he was doing or what he was thinking, his mind was having trouble wrapping around the situation he had gotten himself in, and his head was hurting so bad, his focus was going in an out and flashes of memories were going through his head at an alarming rate. Part of him had no idea who Sakura was or why he was continuing to keep her there, and another part, a part of himself he didn't no he had was dying to have her close and he was having trouble comprehending the feelings that came with the desire to keep her with him.

He felt a cool hand touch his forehead and his eyes shot up. Soft, yet, confused green eyes stared back into his. He sighed as the heat from his face soothed from the feel of her hand, and he wondered if he had officially lost his mind. He shook his head and finally gained enough of himself to pull away from the young woman before him and he let go of her wrist, not missing the delicate hand that reached to rub the bruised appendage. He frowned, not realizing that he had held it that hard.

He inhaled sharply, holding the bridge of his nose to hold the dizziness at bay. After a moment of contemplation; he opened his eyes and situated his glasses properly on his nose.

Sakura didn't know what she was thinking when she reached forward to soothe away the frown lines in Sasuke's forehead. She noticed that he looked to be in pain and she had seen the way he had gripped his head earlier. She confused herself sometimes, really. One moment she was trying everything she could to get away from her obviously sick ex, and the next she was trying to comfort him. She had been ready to hightail it out of there when he let go of her wrist, but her curiosity got the better of her.

She tried hard not to flinch when his eyes raised back up to meet hers and she regretted missing her chance to get away. She wanted an explanation, a reason for Sasuke's actions, but she feared it wouldn't be in her favor and she didn't think she could take any more of his mood-swings. "What is going on, Uchiha-san?" She thought it best to address Sasuke by his last name again.

Sasuke sighed, feeling he had no choice but to explain himself to Sakura. "I apologize," he furrowed his brows at the fact that he actually was saying he was sorry. What happened to his uncaring facade and his Uchiha pride? Uchiha's don't apologize, and despite being disowned; he was no exception to that fact. But his mouth wasn't following his orders and it kept spouting things he'd much rather keep to himself. Things were just not going his way today. "I've been..." He trailed off, not knowing how to put it into words. "I've been having memories- of us." He stated.

Sakura crossed her arms and scoffed. "I gathered that much, Uchiha-san. What I don't understand is why you keep accosting me and then treat me like I'm an insignificant ant. I don't appreciate being treated this way!" She dropped her hands and clasped them behind her back. "I know you must be having a hard time with things. Memories returning and unfamiliar emotions bombarding you without your consent, but as a doctor you shouldn't ignore your health and let things continue as they are. Haven't you talked to Naruto?"

Sasuke grunted and ran a hand through his hair and sat back into his chair, his eyes never leaving the figure standing before him, their legs almost touching as she leaned against his desk. "I have talked to Naruto, and you out of all people should know that it's best to let blocked memories run their course. However, I can't take this anymore! If you would just explain to me everything, what our relationship was, why I—" _"keep having these types of feelings for you,"_ he stopped, words locking in his throat and his eyes snapped up to meet hers. Sakura cocked her head to the side wondering why he had stopped in the middle of a sentence. He cleared his throat, "Stuff like this wouldn't happen if all of you would just _talk_ to me!"

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," Sakura said softly, looking down and giving him a wan smile. "I know you're frustrated and confused, but this is really for the best. You don't want to know, I promise." She raised her hand and then aborted the move altogether and made as if to walk away.

Sasuke stopped her, taking her by the wrist once again and holding her in place. "Please, I keep—I can't keep going on like this. It's too much. I've remembered so much and not enough! It's pieces of a scatter puzzle, that no matter how many shapes I find, I still can't fit them together to form a perfect picture. You're the only one that knows what's happening. Please, Sakura."

Her heart pounded in her ears and her throat closed over words that wouldn't come. Why? Why now of all times did he have to remember and be so determined to find out everything in their past? It's been years, and if she were being honest with herself, she never expected for this day to come. She thought for sure Sasuke would continue on living his life without the knowledge of ever personally knowing Sakura had ever been a part of his past.

She was so stupid. How could she delude herself into thinking all of this would work out in her favor. Hadn't she suffered enough? Wasn't knowing that Sasuke had moved on and got married to someone that wasn't her, enough? That he had had a child without her and lived his life happily while she drifted to the sidelines only to be completely erased, wasn't that enough? Every day she had to put on a smile and straighten her back, act like she was okay. Made everyone believe that she was a strong person. When in fact, she was dying. There was only so much a person could take before they shattered.

After a few moments of silence, Sasuke realized that Sakura was in her own world, her eyes unfocused and her mouth trembling with unspoken words. He reached out with his other hand to cup her cheek, only to freeze at the sound of a gasp and the door slamming into the wall. He looked around Sakura and couldn't hold back the shock in his voice. "Mother?"

Sasuke could feel and see the way Sakura's body immediately seized, her hand unconsciously wrapping around to grasp his in a tight, almost painful, hold. She was stiff, obviously holding back from noticeably trembling. He spared a moment to look into her eyes and his heart nearly stopped at the sight of pure fear in those misty teal orbs. Her usually beautiful, porcelain skin was greyer and clammy; sweat dotted her brow and shuttered breaths passed through half gnawed lips.

He felt a sudden foreboding as he turned back towards his mother and watched an expression he'd never seen before take over the proud matriarch of the Uchiha family. She was openly glaring at Sakura with hatred. He wouldn't have believed his mother could ever look at anyone like that if he hadn't been looking at her with his own eyes. Driven by an instinct he didn't know he possessed, he stood immediately, and gently moved around the prone rosette, shielding her away from the cold and calculating eyes of the woman he had once held such high regard and respect for. That is, before she allowed his father to disown him for pursuing something that he felt in his heart was the right thing to do. "What are you doing here, mother?" He was polite, but he held his ground.

Dark eyes that resembled his own suddenly fixated on him and his chest froze at the look of utter furry. There was a blaze dancing across the elder Uchiha's dark irises, however, she must have remembered where she was and regained her composure. She straightened her back, and pushed back a few straying strands of her long ebony hair that was now growing grey in some places. There was no longer any emotion that could be read, nothing but a cold blank wall.

He did not lower his defenses, though, he remained standing in front of Sakura. Not understanding why, he had been imbued with the urge to protect Sakura. From his own mother, no less. All he knew was that the look of complete, unbidden terror was enough to have his hackles raised and for him to jump immediately keep her out of harm.

"Sasuke-kun," The term of endearment betrayed the tightness in her tone, there was an obvious edge he knew she was trying to keep hidden. He could tell she was holding herself back. And he was, for once in his life, satisfied of the prestigious upbringing of his mother or he was sure she would have lunged at Sakura without a second thought. Something inside himself told him that it was true. "Who is this?" She gave him a sickeningly sweet, fake smile. He hated it. This woman before him wasn't the mother he knew.

It was obvious that the two women knew each other. Even without his memories he could see the obvious tension in the air. The way his mother was burning holes into Sakura's skull and how Sakura's back tensed every few seconds under his palm, as if she could feel the hatred coming off of the elder woman. Uchiha Mikoto was a lot of things. At one point in his life he used to be proud to call her his mother. She had been kind and loving, beautiful and wise beyond her years. Raising Itachi and himself with nothing but care and concern, wanting nothing but the best for her sons.

Losing Itachi had hit Mikoto hard; she felt like she had failed as mother and couldn't bring herself to except the fact that she had lost her eldest son. Without knowing what else to do, she devoted her time and resources to make sure Sasuke was raised better than any child in the world. She pushed him academically; forced him to push himself more in athletics and dragged him to all of their parties, balls and fundraisers. It was a nightmare. She pushed her grief on to him and ultimately pushed him away altogether. He had been in his twenties, wifeless and with an infant, when he finally made the decision to do what he wanted to do. Pursue his own goals and live his own life. He could stand it if Mikoto had done the same thing to Satsuki, that she had done to both Itachi and himself.

Sasuke was careful when he spoke to Sakura, never looking away from Mikoto. He told the rosette that she should go back to making her rounds and that he would meet her in the E.R later. He turned himself into a wall as he urged and led the silent and emotionless girl towards the door, keeping himself between the two women. He didn't allow Mikoto to say one word to Sakura, even when she noticed his hand on her back or how gentle he was being towards her. His expression spoke volumes, and it was telling Mikoto to keep quiet.

When the door closed behind Sakura with a resounding click, all hell broke loose.

* * *

" _How dare you allow that wretch of girl into this home!" Mikoto shouted with a wild look in her eyes, her left hand clenched tightly into a fist at her side while her right held tightly to a wine glass. "Break up with her, I demand you break up with her!" Her voice went up an octave, to where it sounded like she was screeching rather than yelling. "I will not allow my only son to be with someone so beneath him." The sneer that wrinkled her face made it appear as if she were going to spit just from speaking those words._

 _He took a weary step back, not understanding why this was happening. He'd never seen his mother act this way before and he wondered if she'd finally gone off the deep end. That Itachi's death had finally been the final straw in an already unbalanced circumstance._

" _I mean it, Sasuke-kun," the name showed nothing of the affection she once held for him, now all he could see and hear were malice. "I won't stand for it. All through high school I allowed you to spend time with—that girl, but now it's enough! You're already in your second year of college and it's about time you start thinking more seriously about your future!"_

 _Sasuke's jaw clenched and he tried so hard not to shout the words, "She is my future!" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Where had his loving and caring mother gone? Who was this monster before him, drinking until incoherency and spitting curses wrought with hatred and malice at a girl who had done nothing but love and adore him, who despite all the obvious contempt, still respected and wished for acceptance from his mother._

 _Was this what he had been subjecting Sakura to for all these years? Was this what she had to deal with every time he went out with his brother and father, leaving Sakura to stay back over Mikoto's request for tea?_

 _Mikoto's grip on her glass was almost enough to shatter it to pieces, her small hand was turning white from the sheer force of her restraint. "Sasuke, I'm your mother! I know what's best for you, and I'll be damned if I allow some pink haired_ whore _to bleed my foolish son dry. The notion that you could possibly love her is ridiculous." She seethed darkly._

 _Bitterness settled on his tongue, a red, hot flame licked his insides as he struggled to find words. A vision of him wringing his mother's neck flashed through his mind and he backed off, though begrudgingly. "I'm not leaving her, and you can make threats all you want, it's not going to happen." Defiance could only go so far, he knew. There was only so much Mikoto could take before she really snapped, and he knew who her first victim would be. At those thoughts, the will to fight was slowly draining from him and she knew it._

 _Mikoto smiled, it looked deranged and out of place. He swallowed. "Oh," she said, finally setting her glass down and running her now free hand through her long hair, her dark eyes looking smug. "My, my Sasuke-kun," he flinched. "I've never seen you so disobedient. Itachi would be very disappointed in you if he saw how you were treating your poor mother. He would have never spoken to me this way, or treated me as harshly as you have been." She said face crumbling, hurt lacing her words as she wrapped her arms around herself, sobs shaking her shoulders._

" _Mother," he struggled with the right words to say, unable to stand the sight of his mother crying. "I-I'm sorry." He slowly walked towards the distressed woman and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her close. "Please, don't cry."_

" _I won't cry anymore, Sasuke-kun," she whispered into his shoulder, body trembling from repressed sobs. "Please, just do this one thing for me. That's all I ask. Please, if you don't, I don't know what I'll do." She started crying more fervently, tears soaking his shirt._

 _He flinched as he felt his mother wrap her arms tightly around his waist, and her loud cries of misery wracked their bodies as she sobbed into his chest. He felt his heart shrivel at the sight of what his mother had become. She was nothing but a shell of what she used to be. With trembling hands, he stroked back her hair, trying to soothe her as best he could. His eyes weren't focusing as he stared off into the far wall. He felt trapped, as if he were in an inescapable box. He felt his resolve shatter at his feet as his mother begged him to do this one thing for her. He couldn't find the fight that he had before in him anymore. And he wilted, his voice not sounding like his own as he spoke._

" _Okay." His dark, lifeless eyes raising to look up into the eyes of his brother, innocently smiling back at him, frozen in time by a memory, locked away in frame behind glass. He closed them, unable to look at his elder brother's face anymore. "Okay."_

It felt like a bucket of ice cold water had been dumped on his head as he collapsed to the ground in a heap. The shouts of concern coming from his mother breaking through his barriers and giving him an intense migraine. He heard the sound of many folders crashing to the ground with a dull thud and the he felt himself fall forward into waiting arms and then both collapsing to the ground, most likely from where he grabbed on to Sakura's desk and knocked over all of her paperwork. He shivered as he felt hands rub his back and grip his head close to their chest. He felt his world slowly go black and he welcomed the warmth radiating from the body, his mind able to register the distant sound of his best friend slamming through the door and shouting his name.

* * *

Naruto calmly scanned over the contents of his recent patients' file, his tongue poking out from between his lips as he flipped through pages. He was minding his own business, just getting off from lunch, wanting to get quickly get back to work before Sasuke decided to make him do something else, when he passed a couple of interns conversing with themselves. He hadn't paid them no mind at first but then he heard something that made his heart stop.

"Can you believe she's here? I thought for sure we would never see her step foot in this place, you know, considering the circumstances," one said, her voice high and dramatic. He had just rolled his eyes, thinking it was another high class patient causing problems.

The other nodded enthusiastically, "Uh-huh, can you believe how flawless her skin looks? After having two kids and being such a well know person you'd think she'd have accumulated at least SOME wrinkles."

"Yeah, Uchiha Mikoto is such a beautiful woman. Uchiha-san is so lucky to have a mother like her."

Those words alone sent Naruto shooting down the hall, nurses and doctors alike shouting in protest as they moved out of the way before he trampled over them. He wasn't paying them no mind, though, the fact that Mikoto was here in the hospital already spelled enough trouble. If Sasuke, or god forbid, Sakura were to run into that woman things would not turn out well.

"Naruto, crazy brat, watch where you're going!" A woman shouted as she pressed herself into a wall, barely getting out of the way before he ran her over.

"Sorry Anko!" He shouted behind him, not having time to stop and chat. He nearly shouted with glee when he neared his friend's office, only slowing down when he saw Sakura standing just by the door, looking upset and conflicted. He was careful in his approach, making sure he didn't startle the rosette as he placed his hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly, eyes wide and frightened as they looked up at him, and he didn't need to be told anything, already understanding as he looked down. "What did she say?"

Sakura bit her lip and looked down, hands trembling as the buried them in her skirt. "What didn't she say," she said sarcastically, unable to take her eyes away from the door where just the sound of Mikoto's one-sided argument made her flinch. "She's been yelling at Sasuke this entire time. I couldn't bring myself to leave, though."

He released an exhausted breath, reaching for the door, "Just stay out here, okay? I'll go check on Sasuke." He opened the door, looking up just in time to see Sasuke fall against Sakura's desk and Mikoto cover her mouth as she screamed bloody murder. Sakura was right behind him, pushing him out of the way as she finally saw Sasuke. It was like instinct, as he watched Sakura run towards the collapsed man, her hands gentle as she caressed his face and whispered soothing words.

He snapped out of his daze and shouted Sasuke's name, passing by Mikoto who's worry quickly changed into furry at the sight of Sakura. He mentally rolled his eyes, unable to believe that Mikoto had changed into this type of person. Only concerned about herself and what she wanted. It was sick. How she could completely ignore her obviously unwell son and focus on Sakura, who at this point, was of little concern.

For the time being he decided to leave the woman alone, walking over towards the couple on the floor. He knelt next to his pink haired who had calmed down enough to lay Sasuke on his back and manually check his pulse. Naruto pulled apart his eyelids and took his pocket light out to shine it into the dark irises. He cursed when he noticed Sasuke's vision wasn't focusing and his pupil wasn't dilating normally. "Come on, Teme, wake up man." He urged his hands going clammy as felt Sasuke's burning forehead. He reached to his side and pressed the emergency call button on his pager, hoping Neji wasn't doing something important.

"Naruto, his pulse is really high and his breathing is erratic." Sakura murmured, finally looking up.

Their eyes locked, green met blue, and Naruto tried to give her a reassuring smile. He told her everything was going to be okay and asked her to watch Sasuke, knowing he didn't need to but felt better doing it anyway. He looked up at the Uchiha matriarch, his gut twisting in sickening way. "Mikoto-san, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave." He was polite, knowing that he was stepping out of line but he didn't want Mikoto anywhere near Sasuke. He was standing before Sasuke's mother, unconsciously blocking the view of the rosette and his dark haired friend from her view.

Mikoto scowled. "Naruto, what is she doing here?" The malice and contempt was unbidden as she addressed him, her eyes narrowing menacingly at the girl behind him.

Naruto cleared his throat, managing to get Mikoto to look at him again. "I'm sorry to be rude," the words were like tar on his tongue as he remained as calm and respectful as possible. "Now really isn't a good time for us to be having this conversation right now. Maybe you can come some other time, maybe call before doing so?" He suggested, carefully taking her by the shoulder and walking her towards the door. He nearly sighed out loud when Neji came in, his eyes going from Mikoto to Sasuke and then to Sakura who looked a little worse for wear.

Neji bowed more out of respect than in greeting as Naruto dragged Sasuke's mother out of the office. Neji was on the floor and checking over Sasuke. "What happened?"

Sakura shook her head. "I don't know, he was fine when I left him to talk to Mikoto, though, she was yelling at him more than anything. Naruto came to check on him, we walked in and he was just collapsing. Can you figure out what's wrong?" She asked frantically, her hands running through Sasuke's dark hair unconsciously, not even realizing she was doing it. "His pulse was high and it seemed as if he was in a lot of pain. He hasn't gained consciousness either."

Neji nodded his head in understanding. "This has actually happened before, though, it hasn't happened in years. He used to collapse a lot after his accident, sometimes it was due to stress or a flashback of sorts would cause him to get sick…" He trailed off, sitting Sasuke up and wrapping one of his arms around his shoulders so he could carry him to the couch that was conveniently situated in a corner of the office.

"It's my fault, isn't it? He's been telling me that he's been remembering things that happened between us in the past." She looked down sadly at her ex and hoped that she hadn't caused him anymore problems.

Neji shook his head. "It's fine. He needs to remember anyway. Are you alright?" He asked, his eyes telling her that he was worried and wanted to know how Mikoto affected her.

She pushed back her pink hair and closed her eyes to calm herself, willing the trembling to stop. "I'm fine; she just took me by surprise is all." She muttered shakily, "it's not like she didn't say anything she hasn't already told me." There was evident bitterness in her voice, scattering around the floor to pick up the folders Sasuke had knocked over. "I have to go," she said, her eyes flickering to Sasuke and then back to Neji. "Take care of him for me, ne?" She asked and then disappeared out the door, muttering a soft apology when she bumped into Kakashi and Naruto on her way out.

"Sakura-chan?!" Naruto shouted, but made no movement to follow her. He knew it'd be best to leave her alone. "Ugh," he growled as he walked over to where Neji was sitting at Sakura's desk. "I can't believe the nerve of that woman! How long has it been since she's come to see Sasuke without the premise of Satsuki being her excuse, and how convenient for her that Sakura-chan's here too? God," he crossed his arms and glared at the wall. "I've never hated someone so much in my life."

Kakashi sighed and stuffed his favorite book in the back of his pocket as he walked over to Sasuke and snapped his fingers a few times, noting the way Sasuke twitched but made no further movement. "He must have had a pretty bad setback. It's not good for him to stay like this." He stated, pulling the tips of Sasuke hair to see if he'd make any other sign of acknowledgment.

Naruto sighed and rubbed the side of his face, scowling at the five o'clock shadow that scratched against his hand. "Yeah, he's been remembering more of his past with Sakura-chan. He kissed her Friday, too." Both Neji's and Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise. It was quite comical if you asked him. "He's so confused; you should have seen him. I've never seen such a lost look in eyes before."

Kakashi shook his head. "I knew it was a bad idea for Sakura to come here. It's only going to cause more pain for the both of them. She looked like she would commit suicide any minute. That woman terrifies her."

The blond sucked air between his teeth in annoyance. "They need this, especially Sasuke! For the better part of his life he has spent it with Sakura. The only time he was ever truly happy was with Sakura! We shouldn't deny them this chance to finally get the closure they deserve." He stated resolutely.

Neji scoffed. "And at what cost are you willing to pay watching two of your best friends suffer in the process? Sasuke and Sakura can't keep doing what they're doing. I don't know why Sakura came, and frankly I don't think she knows herself, but you and I both know it was a bad idea for her to come back. Sasuke's not ready for this much stress. You of all people should know the trauma he had to endure getting what memory he has now."

"How can you say that? Teme and Sakura-chan should never have broken up in the first place, this is their chance happiness! Most likely their last. Sasuke kissed Sakura! That alone should tell you something." He exclaimed indignantly, not believing his friends were acting the way they were.

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto—"

"Will you people shut up? You're giving me an even bigger headache." A stern voice ordered.

The three males turned to see Sasuke sit up on trembling arms. "I appreciate your concern, but you don't need to discuss my personal life. Anything that happens is by my decision, alone." He squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Where's my mother?" He asked warily.

Kakashi slumped against the wall. "She left. Naruto made her leave."

Sasuke nodded. "Thanks, Dobe."

The blond nodded and patted Sasuke's shoulder. "Any time."

"What about Sakura?" He asked, sitting himself more comfortably on the couch.

"She left after making sure you were well and that Mikoto had enough time to distance herself from the hospital." Neji told him, his eyes searching for any signs of discomfort from his friend.

"Ah." Sasuke nodded, exhaling through his nose.

Naruto swallowed nervously. "What happened?" He asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

Sasuke just shook his head, remaining silent for a while. He himself was trying to get his thoughts together. The struggle he was going through to keep his unadulterated anger at bay. He couldn't remember a time he's felt so much hate and contempt for someone, especially his mother. "She ruined everything." He whispered hoarsely, his head falling back against the back of the couch. The palms of his hands pushed at his eyes.

The three exchanged glances before their gaze drifted back to the lone Uchiha. "What are you talking about?" Naruto asked in a whisper.

Dark eyes opened and stared up at the ceiling and then they slowly drifted to the three standing before him. "I remember."

* * *

Sasuke held in a breath and closed his eyes to stop the oncoming headache. He'd been having them a lot since that day his mother came, and he didn't know what he could do to make them stop. When he had said that he remembered, that was only partly true. He remembered some things, and he remembered his friendship with Sakura and their relationship up until the last year they had spent together. That memory he had of him arguing with his mother was the only memory closest to the time he broke up with Sakura.

Even though it was still bleak; he believed that they had been together; they had once been happy and in love, but also that they had ended badly and that his whole cause for ending it had been for such a selfish reason. He had revolved his whole world around the company and his family. Not wanting to disappoint them and wanting to do everything he could to make his parents happy. Then after he had the accident he couldn't make himself take over his father's corporation. It just wasn't important to him anymore. So, everything up to this point. All the suffering he'd cause, had all been for nothing. None of his reasons mattered anymore.

He was angry at himself for letting something, apparently so good, go. He wished he could remember the actual breakup or at least something that made sense instead of the stupid memories of his childhood. They weren't doing him any good, and they weren't getting him any closer to the bigger picture. He couldn't remember a time he's ever been so frustrated before in his life.

* * *

Sakura sighed as she slumped on to a bench located in the lobby of the hospital. The sound of people going about their business and exchanging greetings comforting her slightly. She threw her arm over her eyes and let her head fall back against the bench, her head hanging uncomfortably off the back but she was too tired and numb to do anything about it. She couldn't remember the last time she's felt so drained after meeting someone. Even after seeing her beloved Sasuke-kun didn't send her into this much of a panicked frenzy.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she had yet to break from the cold sweat she had developed after what happened sank in. She slumped, lifeless, into the cold, hard bench. Slowly but surely her life was starting to shatter right before her eyes, and she didn't know how much more she could take before she finally cracked. She choked out a soft sob, no tears were coming though. She just shuddered with every breath she took and tried to keep the nausea at bay as best as she could.

"Sakura-nii-chan!" A tiny, yet familiar voice shouted.

She heard the repeated sound of footsteps getting closer and closer and then she felt a weight jump on to her lap. She let out a grunt and her arms reflexively wrapped around the little boy that had wrapped his arms around her neck. She smiled unconsciously as Satsuki started to babble about the day he had at school, her problems falling away as the little boy's excitement grew. Even though he definitely showed a lot more than Sasuke had probably ever had in his entire life, Satsuki reminded her so much of his father. Even his smile, as rare as Sasuke's was, made as if she was looking right at Sasuke himself.

"Satsuki-chan, don't you think you should go see your father before he starts to worry about you?" She knew that Sasuke had a set time for when Satsuki was supposed to show up at the hospital after school. She also knew how worried Sasuke would be if Satsuki wasn't there right on time.

Satsuki pouted and wrapped his hands around the tips of Sakura's hair. "Awww, I don't wanna. Papa is so boring~." He drawled in a petulant tone.

"She's right Satsuki, you should go let your dad know you made it safely."

Sakura looked up at the sound of the voice, surprised to see Genma grinning down at her. He flashed her a wink before removing the little boy's backpack from his shoulder. "Come on, kid, go check-in and if it's okay, ask your dad if I can take you for some ice-cream."

Satsuki shouted in glee and snatched his bag before racing off to find his dad. Genma watched the boy go with his eyes, a fond smile on his face, and then he turned back to Sakura and situated himself next to her on the bench. "You look like you've had a long day,"

Sakura laughed, it sounding sad and unnatural even to her own ears. "You have no idea."

"You wanna talk about it?" Genma asked casually, relaxing into the back of the bench as he twisted a toothpick between his teeth.

She shook her head quickly, that was the last thing she wanted to do. "No, actually, why don't you tell me what's up with you. Do you always bring Satsuki to the city after school?"

"Nah, only sometimes. I got a call from Kakashi and he told me to bring the kid down to the hospital. I don't mind, really, it gave me a chance to see you." He smiled cheekily and cuffed her chin softly with his knuckles.

She blushed and looked down at her lap, feeling overwhelmed and flattered.

"Papa said I could go!" The little Uchiha scrunched his nose up cutely as he looked between the two. "What are you doing?"

Sakura's eyes widened as she felt the heat rush up to the back of her neck and she quickly shook her head and smiled. "Nothing, Satsuki-chan, come on. Genma- _sensei_ promised us ice-cream after all!"

Satsuki whooped and pounced into Sakura's arms, her automatic instinct to hold him close and cradle him in her arms. "Yay! Ice-cream, let's goooo~" His eyes were alight with delight as he wrapped his arms tightly around Sakura's neck, rubbing his cheek against hers.

She laughed happily, her heart settling, as she looked over at Genma. He smiled back softly as he walked a few paces behind them. Something had passed between them, and he knew Satsuki's arrival was just the catalyst to their silent conversation. As usual, things didn't need to be spoken for him to understand everything.

' _Sasuke sure is one hell of a lucky guy.'_

* * *

Sasuke raised a brow at her as she continued to stare off into space. "Sakura-san?" He asked, pulling at her sleeve before she ran into a pillar.

Sakura blanched and blinked out of her reverie. "Yeah? I-I mean yes? Uh," she cleared her throat awkwardly. "Anyway, I've cleared up everything on the third floor and signed all the paperwork that needed to be taken care of."

Sasuke sighed in exasperation and cocked his head to the side in annoyance. "Would you stop doing my job?"

Sakura snorted. "What? You were busy. What else did you expect me to do? I couldn't just carry them all the way up here just so you can jot your name down. That's just ridiculous. I have the authority to take care of it. You're the only doctor here; why bother you with menial things such as signing release forms?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and took the clipboard he had in his hand and smacked the top of her head with it gently. "Go home, Sakura." He ordered and then walked away without another word.

Sakura spluttered and ran to catch up to her boss. "What, why?" She urged, looking at him questioningly.

"Are you stupid?" He asked seriously, making her scowl. "You're about to fall flat on your face from exhaustion. When was the last time you looked in a mirror?"

Sakura paused short in her steps and pouted. _`It's your fault I'm like this in the first place.'_ She rubbed her cheeks roughly and questioned herself. "Do I look that bad?" She mumbled, looking at her blurry reflection through a window.

"Yes." Was Sasuke's immediate reply.

Sakura glared at the back of Sasuke's head as he continued to walk on, following a few steps behind. Sakura stuck her tongue out at his back childishly. "I'm not going home; my shift hasn't ended." She stated confidently.

"And I'm not an idiot," Sasuke said while looking down at his charts. "You're on call, you don't have any particular shift. Which is why I'm confiscating your beeper also." He said, turning immediately around, making Sakura smack into his chest. He wasn't bothered and reached to her side and snatched her pager before she could even blink and exclaim in protest.

Sakura gasped and quickly covered her hip where her pager once was. "Uchiha-san, I'm fine I know my limits." She said through grit teeth as she fruitlessly reached over to take her beeper back.

"Tell that to the drool on my examining table." He replied sarcastically, lifting his hand over his head making her brush against his chest as she reached up to take back her pager. They both paused realizing what position they had put themselves in.

With a blush Sakura immediately looked down embarrassed and stepped away. "Sorry about that. Sleeping on your examining table, I mean." Curses! She knew sneaking in some shut eye in Sasuke's patients' quarters was a bad idea.

"It's fine, your bruised head makes up for it." He said nonchalantly, remembering watching as she slammed her head against the table when her hand had slipped from under her chin. He smirked.

She lifted a hand to feel her head, and winced slightly when she felt the fabric from her tiny bandage. "Hey, that really hurt."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Which is why you need to go home. I'm not going to be your babysitter; you should be more professional than that. What if you got distracted during surgery because you got tired? It could cost someone their lives because of your stubbornness." He said sternly.

Sakura sighed and followed him reluctantly, trying not to blush from being told off. She'll never get used to that. "Fine." She gave and indignant huff and stomped her way passed Sasuke and into their shared office, immediately she went to her desk to gather her things so she could go home. She glanced over towards the window and let out a groan as she saw that it was starting to rain cats and dogs outside. She turned a baleful glance at Sasuke and jerked her head towards see through barrier. "Look what you're sending me out into."

Sasuke raised his eyes slightly to the window as he trifled through the papers in his desk; he then went back to his hunt.

She sucked her teeth and forcefully started shoving her things into her bag, annoyance pouring off of her in waves as she muttered incoherently under her breath. "Uchiha's- never caring- jerks- pain in my-"

"PAPA!"

Sakura screeched in surprise and nearly jumped out of her skin as a wet Satsuki came barreling through the door and hurtling his soaking body into her knees. She got a sense of deja vu as her knees buckled and she fell to the floor. Satsuki giggling without a care in the world and his mouth moving a mile a minute as he started talking to her.

The elder Uchiha rolled his eyes, but frowned when he noticed his son's hair dripping and his clothes sticking to him like a second skin. He ignored the way his heart jumped at the sight of Sakura smiling and laughing as Satsuki described the day he had, her one arm wrapped around his back and the other using the tail of her jacket to wipe at damp face and neck.

Satsuki was trying to wiggle away from her as she started to tug his shirt up; he was trying to tell her something and she was making him lose his trail of thought. "Sakura-nii-chan~" He whined, pouting as she finally managed to get his shirt all the way off. He pouted up at her and shivered slightly from the cold.

Sakura couldn't help but laugh when she removed the little boys' shirt, his wet hair sticking out all over the place and his bottom lip jutting out as far as it could go. It was quite an amusing sight. "Sorry Satsuki but we don't want you getting sick, which means you need to change out of those wet clothes. Go to the cabinet and get a shirt and pants." She ordered, waving her hand in the direction of said set of furniture.

Satsuki grumbled as he begrudgingly marched his way to where she told him to.

Sasuke smirked, finding the whole situation hilarious; he'd never seen his son act so obedient. It was usually a war for him to even get Satsuki to take a bath, but it was effortless for Sakura to get him to do something that needed to be done. He was also surprised that she was so comfortable in taking on the role of looking after his wellbeing. He watched as his son got what he was supposed to and walked back to the pink haired woman, and then she was telling him to change while she went to get him a towel for his hair.

He couldn't help the smile that broke through his façade as he watched Sakura and his son interact with each other. It was all too surreal.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, so this chapter needed some MAJOR gutting. Like, it was a mess. Ugh, I still feel like it's a mess but I didn't want to spend too much time on it and get distracted, like I know I would.  
Anyway, so a few of you had some questions that I remembering answering a long time ago when I first posted this story. I completely forgot about it until the questions were actually posed.  
1st. Satsuki calls Sakura-nii-chan. Yes, I understand it's for boys, but in Satsuki's mind he doesn't want to consider Sakura as a sister. He loves Sakura and ships SasuSaku just as much as the rest of us.  
2nd. I hate Karin. I really do, however, as for any story that wants to have a solid plot-line and a good bit of drama; I found it necessary. As a writer and owner of this story line I'm privileged to do with it what I will. Also, there is still a bit of things that have not come into fruition. So, please be patient.  
3rd. All of you have been so amazing, you have no idea how much you encourage me and keep me going. I always look forward to reading your reviews. Please continue to follow me on this journey. Don't hate me too much either, lol, some of you get real scary when it comes to your SasuSaku feels. **


	10. Update

**Update**

So, about a couple weeks ago I moved to a different State. Through job hunting and getting myself settled I've been really busy and just haven't had the time to update. On top of that a few days ago I got into a really bad accident with my best friend, thankfully we survived but we also sustained some lasting injuries, both physical and mental. There's just too much going on right now for me to update on a regular basis and I'm sorry for that. I'm not abandoning this story but the updates are going to be spaced out. Please, stop reviewing for me to update. That's not what the review box is there for, if you like my story, tell me so. If you have issues with me updating, PM me. I know all of you are waiting and anticipating but adulthood is ridiculous and unfortunately I have to live through it.

Thanks for your understanding. I'll see you soon!

JungHee


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